Anime - Kono Dio Da!

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

I somehow expect chocolate covered gummy bears to be crunchy on the outside and chewy gummy on the inside

What kind of chocolate have you been eating? Lmao, it's been a while since I've had them but crunchy is not what I'd use to describe them.

16 minutes ago, majestic said:

What I also like is chocolate filled with fruit flavored sugar creme

Those are pretty good. But my favorite has to be chocolate with nuts and caramel.

16 minutes ago, majestic said:

Eh... but eating regular chocolate or stuff that's mostly chocolate, yeah, no. That's just not for me

I'd probably agree, when I get chocolate I like some variety in it and nothing but chocolate doesn't appeal as much. With ice cream being an exception (cue Troi).

Anyways I finished episode 2 of Steins;Gate and it's very weird but I'm going to keep it up. I have no idea what's going on besides what is probably some time travel shenanigans. Which reminds of Chibi-Usa in Sailor Moon S, particularly where one of the protagonist (assuming the weird laughing guy in the lab coat is the protagonist) talks with his sister about the microwave.

[majestic]

2 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

What kind of chocolate have you been eating? Lmao, it's been a while since I've had them but crunchy is not what I'd use to describe them.

Crunchy is probably the wrong way to describe it, but I mean, cracking the outer chocolate layer that's kind of hard, only to get to a chewy gummy bear is... not an appealing idea.

2 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Those are pretty good. But my favorite has to be chocolate with nuts and caramel.

Oh... hmmm. Belgian chocolate dragees are to die for. They're also really on the upper end of empty calories... I avoid going near them, like, all the time. Heh.

2 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

With ice cream being an exception (cue Troi).

I like all sorts of ice cream, but chocolate is up there with my other favorites. Like mango and, uhm, nutella flavored ice. Which is... angelic. Really. Too bad its made with a product from the absolute worst of companies. Meh.

Although, I'm guessing most "nutella" ice cream never saw any nutella, that's way too expensive.

Edited September 24, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

Crunchy is probably the wrong way to describe it, but I mean, cracking the outer chocolate layer that's kind of hard, only to get to a chewy gummy bear is... not an appealing idea.

To each their own.

14 minutes ago, majestic said:

Belgian chocolate dragees are to die for.

Are those like chocolate covered almonds or filled things? My search results show candy coated chocolate.

16 minutes ago, majestic said:

Too bad its made with a product from the absolute worst of companies. Meh.

Man, I just went down the rabbit hole to see if Nutela was owned by Nestlé. Lmao.

Anyways chocolate ice creams are definitely in the top tier for me, along with caramel, bourbon, strawberry, or cherry.

[majestic]

1 hour ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Man, I just went down the rabbit hole to see if Nutela was owned by Nestlé. Lmao.

Yeah, no, my bad. I thought Nestlé bought Ferrero, but that was only an offer, and Nestlé ended up selling part of their portfolio to Ferrero. Well, then it's only owned by a company running a massive marketing campaign making chocolate and sugar appear to be a healthy diet for children, and not a company actively killing African babies. That's a major improvement, but ultimately still not... ideal.

1 hour ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Are those like chocolate covered almonds or filled things? My search results show candy coated chocolate.

Peanuts, hazelnuts, raisins and almonds are most common, but other varieties exist too.  Dipped in Belgian chocolate and coated with shellac (both for protection and the glazy look, like with jelly beans). 

They look something like that:

Kind of like M&Ms, only, uhm, good.

 

On on topic news, I watched the first episode of Steins;Gate. I have on idea what the hell is going on. I don't think I've ever been as confused about what's going on in an anime, and that includes Revoltionary Girl Utena. And they microwave bananas.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

10 minutes ago, majestic said:

Kind of like M&Ms, only, uhm, good.

That makes sense. I'll see if I can find some.

11 minutes ago, majestic said:

On on topic news, I watched the first episode of Steins;Gate. I have on idea what the hell is going on. I don't think I've ever been as confused about what's going on in an anime, and that includes Revoltionary Girl Utena. And they microwave bananas.

They microwave them backwards. 

 

 

[majestic]

Back to Love Live! to finish the second season, and then there's the movie. I think that'll be enough then, I'm going to try and pretend the spin-off animes don't exist. I don't expect that to work, but who knows.

This, uhm, you know, before watching K-On!, Love Live! was just a strange anime that was incredibly popular for what I thought was no real reason. The fanservice is there, and it's plentiful, but not strong enough (really, not a single panty shot in one and a half seasons, what is this?). The singing isn't too good, the music isn't great and the jokes are okayish, with only the odd laugh out loud moment in between and some character drama every five episodes.

I was made for Love Live!ing you baby, you were made to... never mind. Oh, I can't get enough! Please, put me out of my misery.

Now... now this isn't just strange, it's... bad. It looks so much worse than K-On!, it sounds so much worse than K-On! and it sure is so much worse than K-On! in every other way too, and the comparison is always there because dear god everything was ripped off from K-On!, and no, this isn't even me doing my usual hyperbole for effect spiel. Love Live! is like a cheap Chinese knock-off of a superior product. Like these suspiciously similar TV movies that followed or even came out at the same as their blockbuster movie counterparts for a while back in the 90ies.

Tried a bit of googling to see if anyone thinks the same things I do, and again, nope, of course not. I did find a reddit threat about Love Live! ripping off Glee, but what do I care about that? Search results then quickly go into general anime ripoffs, including Black Swan. However, there's one positive coming from that search: I just learned that Kyoto Animation is working on a third season for K-On! that should have released already but contracted COVID-19, like so many things.

I sure hope that doesn't turn out to be like Clear Card.

edit: I forgot to link a version of the song used in this episode.

I'm continually amazed by the crowds here. How is this so popular?

Although, loathe as I am to do this, I have to admit that's one hell of a catchy tune, which probably explains the popularity. I mean, there are droves of people flocking to Katy Perry, and her "music" is on a similar level of... suck. And on a similar level of catchy. Yeah. I guess that's it, huh?

Edited September 25, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

[majestic]

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

My mind came up with a reply to that, something that would have went along the lines of expecting more from you than an out of context quote on a meme, but cutting you some slack because you pepper-poisoned yourself and are clearly not thinking straight yet.

However... at the end of the Halloween episode, Honoka's sister finds a letter in Honoka's room. She started tidying up because she was looking for a manga volume, and her sister's shelf is a mess. That is a joke taken 1:1 from K-On!, and Yui's lost manga volume is actually in the club room at school. Because she's nosy, she reads what's on the page, and is shocked.

Oh my, what an unexpected development, what could have happened? Has Honoka secretly kept failing exams? Did she get into trouble at school? Anything interesting? Well...

Turns out at the start of the very next episode, Honoka's sister shows it to her mother, who reacts equally shocked that... (spoiler is more for effect than "spoiling" this)

Spoiler

Honoka gained some weight.

Yes, so that's all.

Yeah. Trash. It's all trash.

[Bartimaeus]

17 minutes ago, majestic said:

My mind came up with a reply to that, something that would have went along the lines of expecting more from you than an out of context quote on a meme, but cutting you some slack because you pepper-poisoned yourself and are clearly not thinking straight yet.

I actually took a screenshot of this. Sure, there's more context...but the context just makes it a little more applicable in regards to Love Live! and the people who showed up to that concert, .

So...in other words, skip Love Live!, watch K-On, right?

(e): Stupid link re-directs because it's some piece of crap website. Fixed.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

29 minutes ago, majestic said:

My mind came up with a reply to that, something that would have went along the lines of expecting more from you than an out of context quote on a meme, but cutting you some slack because you pepper-poisoned yourself and are clearly not thinking straight yet.

However... at the end of the Halloween episode, Honoka's sister finds a letter in Honoka's room. She started tidying up because she was looking for a manga volume, and her sister's shelf is a mess. That is a joke taken 1:1 from K-On!, and Yui's lost manga volume is actually in the club room at school. Because she's nosy, she reads what's on the page, and is shocked.

Oh my, what an unexpected development, what could have happened? Has Honoka secretly kept failing exams? Did she get into trouble at school? Anything interesting? Well...

Turns out at the start of the very next episode, Honoka's sister shows it to her mother, who reacts equally shocked that... (spoiler is more for effect than "spoiling" this)

  Reveal hidden contents

Honoka gained some weight.

Yes, so that's all.

Yeah. Trash. It's all trash.

I'm just going to pretend Love Live! is a fever dream you had.

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I actually took a screenshot of this. Sure, there's more context...but the context just makes it even more applicable in regards to Love Live! and the people who showed up to that concert, .

That link doesn't work for some reason (it always redirects to some, uhm, other picture). Was Star Wars'ed (fixed in editing ). But yes, the context the quote came up in applies in full for Love Live! and its fans, although K-On! and Love Live! share a writing credit to which the similarities can be traced back to, but writing decent or good episodes for one show doesn't mean you come up with good ones or good ideas for others. Just look at the Utena episodes and Sailor Stars, they shared like half the writers.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

So...in other words, skip Love Live!, watch K-On, right?

Very much. K-On! has a few weird things* in its first season, but that's over fairly quickly, and in the second season it's finally put to rest when Mio knocks out Sawako. K-On! was genuinely funny at times, heartwarming at others, and very occasionally somewhat sad. It's something silly you turn on for a bit of a good time, nothing too serious. The biggest hurdles really are the weird things in the first season, and getting through Yui's and Ritsu's constant overacting phase. The show really improves its balance after a few episodes.

Before K-On!, I didn't exactly enjoy Love Live!, but at least I didn't actively dislike it. It got some laughs here and there, and that episode where Kotori almost leaves for a different school has a very ripped-off-from-Sailor-Moon vibe, but it was a nice enough episode. Now... I don't know. Maybe the two episodes were just bad, but the feeling that I'm watching a worse version of something that I found genuinely funny and actually great at times (not often, but every now and then) is always there and doesn't seem to go away.

edit: Love Live! is really strange. The last five minutes of the episode suddenly stop being about this ridiculous weight loss plot and become about Honoka, Kotori and Umi making a mistake with the student council budget requests and working hard to find a compromise. It had a funny joke, a fun ending and it led to some character growth. It's like a SuperS** episode that would be genuinely good if you'd just remove Pedosus from it.

*That I mentioned already, anyway. Like Sawako pulling Mio's pants down for no reason (well, the "reason" is that she got dumped on Christmas). Wait a minute, let me check something. Nope. That epsiode was actually written by the series main writer, not the guy who later made Love Live!.

**I just realized that you could just pronounce that Super-Ass and... yeah. SuperAss. I think that'll be the term for SuperS in the future.

Edited September 25, 2021 by majestic
Had a sentence unfinished, typos, weird things, really, time to sleep.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

23 minutes ago, majestic said:

I just realized that you could just pronounce that Super-Ass and... yeah. SuperAss. I think that'll be the term for SuperS in the future.

Let's not conflate big booty with 40-something episodes of a horse trying to **** a 12 year old.

[Bartimaeus]

Another episode of Nadia, another episode that is primarily characters just yelling at each other over dumb stuff. However, unlike the previous episodes, this one felt like it was actually written by some of the people that made earlier episodes, because instead of being dreadfully boring and annoying, there was actually some fun and enjoyment in it. Not only that, but the episode's animation looked like it was made by the original animation team. The next episode...GASP, actually had something materially happen in regards to the plot, even if it only was at the last couple of minutes of the episode and the episode ended on a cliffhanger. Incredible. Could've really done without the 6 or so utterly worthless episodes in between, but maybe we're finally at the end of the tunnel here. Maybe.

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Very much.

Maybe after I've finished Sakura and need something totally different yet slightly familiar, . Just kidding, I'm never watching K-On, I already told you that. And if I ever write any posts to the contrary at some point in the future, you can rest assured that they're lies told by my evil doppelganger. However, my evil doppelganger isn't so bad, really, so you should continue to converse with him.

[majestic]

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Maybe after I've finished Sakura and need something totally different yet slightly familiar, . Just kidding, I'm never watching K-On, I already told you that. And if I ever write any posts to the contrary at some point in the future, you can rest assured that they're lies told by my evil doppelganger. However, my evil doppelganger isn't so bad, really, so you should continue to converse with him.

I see. You know, there's still a chance you're not going to like it all too much. I mean, your evil doppelgänger. The early episodes in particular. 

Heh.

Watched the second episode of the Magic User's Club OVA. Making progress on all fronts here. If it weren't for the ridiculous ecchi elements, that episode would have been genuinely nice. Nothing great, but not bad either. It was coming along nicely until the big boobs lady from the intro turns out to be the magic club president's arch enemy, the manga club president. They're sharing a room at school and she's been creeping up on his space by moving the room divider.

He's off to confront her but of course can't say a word because bewbies are distracting, and he ends up bewitching her, and a flower starts growing on her head. These things are frustrating, because I was on the verge of thinking that maybe this isn't as bad as it initially looked to be, and then it goes and turns into an animated American Pie with magic wands.

The alien bell thing sends a probe to take readings of the weird flower, and it starts sprouting a dozen or so metal tentacles to take readings. Why? Well, because haha, this is a funny reference to tentacle porn.

Wink wink, nudge nudge. Maybe this would be funny were I still 12 years old, alas, I'm turning 40 in a year. No, wait, even when I was 12 I didn't like that kind of joke. *sigh*

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

The next episode...GASP, actually had something materially happen in regards to the plot, even if it only was at the last couple of minutes of the episode and the episode ended on a cliffhanger. Incredible. Could've really done without the 6 or so utterly worthless episodes in between, but maybe we're finally at the end of the tunnel here. Maybe.

Well, maybe Nadia is back on the list, assuming this lasts. I can deal with a six episode lull.

Edited September 26, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

And for being made by Madhouse, it doesn't even look all that good. ...I mean, it looks a lot better than most of the crap that came out around that time, but still, .

I'll keep you updated on Nadia. I need to watch the next episode of Sakura something fierce (and Devil Lady), but a busier than average week prevented that...and I won't have time today, either. MAYBE TOMORROW.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Steins;Gate 3 and 4

I have no idea what is happening but this show sure is something.

[Sarex]

1 hour ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Steins;Gate 3 and 4

I have no idea what is happening but this show sure is something.

You didn't even get to the weird part yet.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

7 minutes ago, Sarex said:

You didn't even get to the weird part yet.

 

 

[majestic]

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

And for being made by Madhouse, it doesn't even look all that good.

That's the TV anime. The OVA was made by Triangle. The OVA is pretty much a loss at this point, but maybe the TV anime isn't so bad. Being made for TV might have curbed the, uhm, fanservice a little. One can hope, right?

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'll keep you updated on Nadia. I need to watch the next episode of Sakura something fierce (and Devil Lady), but a busier than average week prevented that...and I won't have time today, either. MAYBE TOMORROW.

I haven't really watched much over the weekend either, but that's mostly Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous' fault. Next couple of weeks will be really busy at work too. Yay.

[majestic]

Ended up watching two more episodes of Love Live!, and they were a marked change from the earlier two. No stupid jokes that fell flat, just a neat continuation of the five minutes of the low point weight loss episode that I complained about last time. Never thought I'd say this, but the two episodes were really good. Actually the only reason why I watched two instead of trying to sleep already is because I wanted... oh boy. I wanted to watch the next one.

There are some backstory reveals for Nozomi the Boob Fondler (but no actual fondling going on). Everyone works on a new song, then they give up for a bit, then everyone visits Nozomi and they come up with an idea anyway. Next episode has Honoka acting all responsible as student council president for a change, almost missing the final preliminary round for Love Live!. Near the end of that episode they recycled a K-On! joke, with Honoka crying and being all snotty, just like Yui does. They also were really light on the fanservice.

Still... help me guys, my brain might finally be rotting away here.

No, in all seriousness, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Last season also had an episode or two that were good, in a sea of mediocrity (and some really bad fanservice) - and the animation still sucks, as does the art - especially the character designs.

I mean, sure, they make it to the preliminaries and proceed to sing this travesty:

But hey, while the music in this is never really going to be good, compared to the A-RISE songs and whatever the hell "Dancing Stars On Me" was, this is actually... tolerable.

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

I haven't really watched much over the weekend either, but that's mostly Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous' fault.

Did one of the bugs delete all anime?

[InsaneCommander]

Steins;Gate 0 16-20:

 

Episode 18 was really good. Can't say much more since by this point it's full spoiler territory, but I'm glad there are only a few episodes left. This is becoming really sad, time travel to change things or not.

 

Spoiler

16- Damn it, not even with a punch Okarin will change.

 

17- Mayushi didn’t know??? Wtf? So she accepted that an older woman thought Mayushi was her mother without anyone revealing the time travel? Ok.

I guess they are in the Gamma timeline, where everything goes to s***.

 

18- What an episode! Amateurs. Didn’t they know that Mayushi is Kagari’s mother? Way to completely ruin their own operation.

 

WTF???????? Okarin still don’t want them to time travel.

 

 

Everyone is about to die/be captured or worse. WTF? And he wasted precious time talking and holding them longer.

 

This was the best option for a timeline? With World War III? Wow, the guy is really traumatised.

 

19- Oh no, here we go again. Episode 18 all over again.

 

20- This is becoming torture. Please stop killing everyone.

 

Edited September 28, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[majestic]

22 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Did one of the bugs delete all anime?

No, but I'm not that far in yet. The encounter design is beginning to delete my fun though. I just picked "normal" and figured I could faceroll my way through and built a more role-playing appropriate character, which is by far and large a first time for me anyway, and... well, that escalated quickly. Still playing on normal, but I've made adjustments to my dear companions.

Poor Ember is no longer a saintly healer type but a mean fire based whirlwind of annihilation that can kill people by making them fall asleep. Seelah got a wolf to ride into battle because the only other alternative would have been to make a bard out of her. Instead, the wolf sort of tanks while she's on it pretending to be more than a semi-decent buff bot (she still doesn't do much whenever she's not smiting someone).

Is it really that hard to come up with decent companions? I mean, decent is all that should be needed for "normal", but eh, whatever. It's okay, I'm back to min-maxing. Can't help my choice of Mythic Path and main character, but meh, maybe next time.

23 hours ago, majestic said:

Still... help me guys, my brain might finally be rotting away here.

Looks like it didn't. The last episode ended with them performing at the final preliminaries, the next episode is new year's celebrations and they won the prelims, but we didn't get to see any of that. We're also back to some serious stretching during idol practice, that makes sure to accentuate the... attributes of everyone. Yay.

What? Why would you skip the vote for the preliminaries? That's instant tension. I'm honestly baffled by the creative choice here, never mind the dip in quality and the comeback of that sweet, sweet fanservice.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

Is it really that hard to come up with decent companions?

With Pathfinder 1e you've got some builds that will absolutely wreck the balance with a handful of levels (like vivisectionist/Scaled fist/paladin/sword saint) but be an absolutely insane concept and others that will be meh to very good but flavorful. Owlcat balanced the game around the former and built companions like the latter. And it shows, like you could drop Cthullu (one of the CR 30 monsters in PnP) into CRPG WotR and he would get stomped by a mid game encounter.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

YOU WILL SUFFER. YOU WILL ALL SUFFER.