Anime - Magical Girl Anime Thread, hajimarimasu!

[Lexx]

JoJo Stone Ocean is out now on Netflix and first scene in the first episode already talks about masturbation.

This will be interesting.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Lexx

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Sounds like it's faithful to the manga.

[majestic]

How self-contained is Stone Ocean? Does it reference the prior stories in a meaningful way?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Stone Ocean 1 and 2.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This show is awesome.

34 minutes ago, majestic said:

How self-contained is Stone Ocean? Does it reference the prior stories in a meaningful way?

Well...

It's a direct sequel to Stardust Crusaders. Jolyne is Jotaro's daughter and the villain is DIO'S ex bf. You can pick it up without seeing Diamond is Unbreakable or Golden Wind, arguably the biggest spoilers in each for Stone Ocean are non-issue stuff like Joesph still being alive (he's Josuke/JoJo4's dad) or DIO having knocked up a bunch of ladies (Giorno Giovana/JoJo5 is his kid). If you know what stands are you'll be fine to jump in.

But the question is why would you want to? Both part 4 and 5 are ****ing fantastic. And Stone Ocean is going to have an erratic release schedule. Watch a guy punch a plate of spaghetti in the meantime.

[Gorth]

Taking a break from ripping the clothes off elves, as Mieruko-chan episode 9 got out. A bit of a meh feeling, mostly because it felt like the overall situation didn't change much. Too much is made of Hana's insatiable hunger I think, to the point where it's not just meme worthy, but cringe worthy. This episode feels like filler material i guess the term is? It had some nice touches though. Miko (the all seeing protagonist), Hana (her always hungry friend) and Yulia (the diminutive wannabe worlds greatest spiritualist, who can only see the tiny, harmless ghost) doing some bonding exercises and visiting the local house of horror at some fair. Mostly getting badgered into it by Hana, because there is a 20 free donut reward for going through the house and get a stamp at the end. It does give Miko a rare (and missed) opportunity to finally let lose, scream and yell at ghosts and tell them she can see them. Probably has some kind of therapeutic value

 

 

[Lexx]

What I find sad about new JoJo content is that often the old characters only get very minor roles, if any at all. I just kinda want to see a little more of Jotaro and Josuke and everyone else.

[HoonDing]

[Bartimaeus]

Midnight Detective: Nightwalker, episode 1. I have literally no clue why I have this, I don't remember ever seeing or even thinking about this before. It's the...not exactly terrible, but definitely mediocre late 90s version of City Hunter (an investigative "cool" action guy is the main character, and he's even kind of perverted just like the MC from City Hunter albeit in a different manner due to his vampirism)...but with demons and stuff. Even though it's not terrible, you probably shouldn't watch it - I'm not going to. I really can't figure out why I have this in the first place...but having actually watched an episode, it's a problem I no longer have to deal with.

I AM A DREAMER, HISOMU PAWAA...I mean, Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 68.

Spoiler

I maintain, this is not a lady who is going to get hurt.

She's a funny character, I've gone in between liking and disliking her pretty frequently, sometimes in the same scene...but it's easier to like her now that she has no reason to do the utterly ridiculous clingy shtick which was the prime source of annoyance (but also amusement) with how stretched it was getting.

Semi-cold opening (pun not intended, I only just noticed after I already wrote it) with an army of miniature snowmen attacking Sakura. Alright then. It's strange - when Sakura and Xiaolang had finally gathered up all the cards, it more or less immediately set off Yue putting them through the big test. With the way Eriol seems to be pushing Sakura to convert all the cards to her star magic, it's almost like something similar will happen as soon as she's finished converting all of them.

Kero actually having some words of wisdom for Sakura for once in a long while. If there's really to be an issue of loyalty to be made, it's very obvious none of them will leave her. Oh wow, she's going to use Return, I forgot that one existed. Heh, Xiaolang having the classic shonen "THAT'S TOO DANGEROUS!!!!" moment...and then realizing all by himself that he's overstepping his boundaries, . Look, another pinky promise!

...Man, adult Clow sure looks like her dad, besides the hair. Okay, so if we take Clow at face (i.e. honest) value, we basically know that things are exactly as they appear - Clow is attempting to get Sakura to convert all of the cards so that they can survive because he loves them and doesn't want them to die, plus it pretty much proves that Sakura is a worthy master. It seems clear he doesn't really have an issue with her personality or how she treats them, so that should be all that is important to him. With this line of logic, it also becomes more reasonable (if still kind of sketchy) that he set up Toya to be "absorbed" by Yue, if Yue and the rest are truly that important to him. I guess we'll just have to ignore everything else that he did that could've resulted in serious bodily harm to Sakura, which would've liked gotten all of his "family" killed. The real question I have right now is how/why there is a young version of him orchestrating all this in the present - did he have a secret "travel forward in the future" card that he didn't include in the book that he used way back when he was a kid?

He just stated that she was going to die as well. Should probably give her that "go to the future" card so that she can get started on her own succession plan, Mr. Clow.

Whoops, I wrote all of that out before that scene and then the rest of episode actually ended, which both explained my own presumptive thoughts more explicitly, but also I guess the current Clow may not be quite the same as the past Clow. Ay, karamba? Was he brought back and corrupted by the crazy lady from the first movie somehow?

Two episodes and a movie left.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Lexx]

Just finished with JoJo Stone Ocean part 1. So far I like it more than Golden Wind.

Hope it won't take too long for part 2.

 

Honestly, could watch JoJo simply for the art style alone at this point. It just always looks good.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Lexx

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

23 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Midnight Detective: Nightwalker, episode 1. I have literally no clue why I have this, I don't remember ever seeing or even thinking about this before.

The Angel slipped it in your watch list.

10 hours ago, Lexx said:

What I find sad about new JoJo content is that often the old characters only get very minor roles, if any at all. I just kinda want to see a little more of Jotaro and Josuke and everyone else.

Josuke and the Morioh gang or Giorno and Passione I can see but Jotaro? He is a big character in both Diamond is Unbreakable and Stone Ocean.

17 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Just finished with JoJo Stone Ocean part 1. So far I like it more than Golden Wind.

Eh, I wouldn't go that far. But I rank Golden Wind and Diamond is Unbreakable as tied for top spot. It may get slightly edged out by Battle Tendency for the third spot on my lost.

19 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Honestly, could watch JoJo simply for the art style alone at this point. It just always looks good.

There's some stuff in this where they took shortcuts like the grey silhouettes in the background, but yeah the characters look great. I think sometime in Part 4 Araki's style just got real damn good and the use of color in the anime post-Stardust Crusaders is fantastic. I wish that when they started the series they would have tried to use his more current art style instead of the gym gods, but it still looks better than most anime/manga.

[Lexx]

Jotaro appears in some episodes of Diamond is Unbreakable and in 2 episodes of Stone Ocean so far. Unless there will be more in part 2... so far it's pretty much nothing.

 

My problem with Golden Wind is that I didn't like some of the characters and the whole story felt a bit unbelievable to me (Giorno becomes bossman in 3 days?). Also I didn't like the mafia glorification. Because of that I like Diamond is Unbreakable and Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan is better.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Lexx

[Bartimaeus]

Cardcaptor Sakura, episodes 69 and 70:

Spoiler

Yeah, I don't know, this new Clow guy just isn't nearly as chill as the original, kind of gives off bad vibes. Ah well - Sakura (or maybe her doppelganger) assured herself that she will be fine, and old Clow did the same and seemed pretty confident that she was the one, so I'm sure it'll be alright.

Hmm...or maybe this is just another scenario to make Sakura convert another card. I'm trying to think of what card would even be useful here for dispelling someone else's magic...nothing really comes to mind. I guess he said it was a magical darkness, and I'm pretty sure she has a light card from the play episode, right? That's pretty much all I can think of that might help.

Sakura, he's giving you so much time to come up with ideas for dispelling the darkness, but you keep trying to attack him instead. C'mon, get with the program! Oh my, she's converting all of them at once. Oh hey, there's Light...and Dark. Did I actually guess what card she's going to use for the very first time in this arc? Xiaolang still barely hanging on...oh, that's why he's barely hanging on, she needed his help. I guess he's related to Clow, which probably makes sense, except isn't he Chinese and Clow British? Hmm, whatever.

Lmao at Toya still not ever being able to see Sakura in her "transformed" state for whatever reason. Genre convention, I guess.

Double lmao at Clow just hightailing it while they were looking away for a moment. Jerk promised to explain everything to them after she dispelled the darkness, but nope.

Triple lmao at Xiaolang choosing that particular time to finally say it.

...

Aaawkward.

Lmao, all that dramatic build-up and it's a tea party in her honor. Okay, so he legit is a reincarnation of the original Clow? Why didn't he just take back the cards in the first place? Also, does this mean Sakura is going to be reincarnated in this manner, too? I'm not sure that this is all logically sound...

A lady just walked in...but I paused it before it could be revealed. My first thought was IT'S HER MOM, but then I was like "wait, no, that'd be stupid", and so...it's probably Ms...whatsherface. Yeah, I'm never gonna remember her name. I think it starts with an M.

Oh hey, there she is, Ms. Mizuki. She's been here the entire time? But why? ...Okay, she explained why, but the explanation is super weak. Honestly, why did they have her here? I guess to have her appear for just a little bit as part of this farewell, but this explanation just doesn't hold up, IMO...

These classroom sketch drawings sure are a feeling. Figures this show's final episode would be all about feelings in a large way. Oh, that rat, he just hung up on Meiling before she had a chance to finish what she wanted to say just like he did to Sakura. This is no way to treat your girls, my man.

The bear...has finally been delivered. Too bad they're using this TERRIBLE THEME SONG FOR THE FINAL EMOTIONAL MONTAGE. Hold on, I'm gonna restart it and use a GOOD song instead. ...Sakura's version of Honey it is. Except that's way too long and the montage ended way before the song was even close to ending, whoops. Eh, it was still better, .

See you later, magical girl...for real, because I still have the movie to go.

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

59 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Jotaro appears in some episodes of Diamond is Unbreakable and in 2 episodes of Stone Ocean so far. Unless there will be more in part 2... so far it's pretty much nothing.

I'll have to finish part 1 but if it tracks with the manga it isn't even a third yet.

1 hour ago, Lexx said:

My problem with Golden Wind is that I didn't like some of the characters and the whole story felt a bit unbelievable to me (Giorno becomes bossman in 3 days?). Also I didn't like the mafia glorification. Because of that I like Diamond is Unbreakable and Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan is better.

I gave up on JoJo being believable when Jack the Ripper jumped out of a horse. I loved Golden Wind because the art+color were great and because the stands were interesting, I didn't hate any of the characters but I do think the Passione gang was less fun than the Morioh gang. Though a crossover with Josuke and Giorno would be really fun.

[majestic]

47 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

See you later, magical girl...for real, because I still have the movie to go.

The movie is better than the last two episodes. I mean, I really liked everything of the final episodes that wasn't the storyline, but yeah, that conclusion wasn't the best. At least, not compared to the finale of the first arc, which was not just great for the feelings but also legitimately... better written. I'm not going to say riveting or interesting because it is what it is when you watch it as an adult, but it was still really good, and this finale was... simply not as good.

It does have the added bonus of being the final episode in a longer running show. A journey's end always feels different, unless you make a movie with ten separate endings. *sideglance at Return of the King*

Explanation for Clow Reed's looks:

Spoiler

In the manga, the storyline is a little more complicated, and Sakura's father also has a part of Clow Reed's power or is some form of reincarnation of Clow Reed, and what he asks of Sakura isn't "just" to take care of his creations, but to... break his power, and with it the cycle, because too much magical power in just one person is bad. From what I've read about it, at least, so this is second hand information.

That card that Sakura created there at the end... ah, well...

The movie, like I said, features a slight asspull for the storyline and if there's one bad thing about it, then it is that it kind of repeats certain parts of the anime, but it does it so well it doesn't matter. Almost doesn't matter, I guess.

Edited December 2, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

The movie is better than the last two episodes. I mean, I really liked everything of the final episodes that wasn't the storyline, but yeah, that conclusion wasn't the best. At least, not compared to the finale of the first arc, which was not just great for the feelings but also legitimately... better written. I'm not going to say riveting or interesting because it is what it is when you watch it as an adult, but it was still really good, and this finale was... simply not as good.

It's rare that show finales for anything are ever genuinely good, in my opinion. Perhaps that is simply more indicative of what I enjoy, which is invariably the journey full of both its many ups and downs more than the destination, than anything else. It's so difficult to perfectly encapsulate and wrap up all the different plot points, character arcs and moments, and themes, while also delivering simply from a "this was written and filmed perfectly" viewpoint. Even shows which try to handle it in a completely unorthodox way, like NGE, it's usually more of an...acquired taste, so to speak - something that you almost have to watch a second time to fully appreciate, which was instead perhaps dissatisfying on the first watch. I'm trying to think of a single show* I've seen where I really thought "wow, what a great ending!", and I got...well, huh, I just looked through every single one of my shows, and I got nothing. So yeah, I liked season 1 (35 episodes) and 2's (11 episodes) endings more than season 3's, . Episodes in parentheses because I'm pretty sure Netflix makes both "season 1" and "season 2" into one big season so you consider them the same thing, but oddly, that is not true everywhere e.g. Wikipedia.

Looking forward to watching the movie in 2040.

*Miniseries not included: e.g. Chernobyl.

[majestic]

It's two seasons, but one story arc. I can only imagine it was two seasons only from a production viewpoint (with the break in between for the first movie), because that never made any sense. Netflix splitting them up into a Clow Card arc and a Sakura Card arc makes a good deal more sense, and it's odd to have one 35 and one 11 episode season.

Great finals are really rare indeed. This topic came up before and some posters often cite shows I haven't watched as shows with great endings. Nothing readily comes to mind for me though. TNG had a great episode as a final, but it was just a two parter. If we count the second Sakura movie as series ending then that's great, but was written and animated as a capstone movie. 

Mini-series are easier because they're usually "just" longer movies and properly plotted out all the way through, but when they are successful they get a second season and it's just going down the drain, usually. That never felt like an issue with Cardcaptor Sakura, but it's really just that the story idea of the second arc wasn't as strong as the first one, by any objective and subjective measure. I still have a hard time ignoring the ups and declare the Clow Card arc the better arc, and some of the episodes simply could not have happened without the prior buildup.

Clow Card had a higher average quality, I think. Sakura Card had single episodes that were stand out moments for me. Not easy to decide.

The new Westworld for instance would have had a great ending if it just ended when it was supposed to. But nah... studios keep ordering more oodles of cash. Makes sense from a business point of view, of course.

15 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Looking forward to watching the movie in 2040.

Nope, that's not acceptable. When next you feel like watching Samurai Hairdo, just click on Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card instead.

Edited December 2, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

Poor Komi will have to wait until tomorrow, I'm too tired and my brain hurts from watching Star Dreck. Also... @Bartimaeus now that you've watched all the episodes, is it still a 9.5 or did it drop half a point for being a bit... not so great?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Stone Ocean 3-12. Ok, this is really damn good. It's hilariously JoJo and beautifully over the top.

[Bartimaeus]

6 hours ago, majestic said:

Poor Komi will have to wait until tomorrow, I'm too tired and my brain hurts from watching Star Dreck. Also... @Bartimaeus now that you've watched all the episodes, is it still a 9.5 or did it drop half a point for being a bit... not so great?

I usually wait to completely evaluate a series in terms of rating until after I've seen all the main parts of it, and I presume I'm right in including The Sealed Card as part of that, . The first movie was an 8.5 for me, so if the second movie really is so much clearly  better than the first, I'm estimating that it'll be a 10 or 10.5, . ...It'll sure be ironic if I like the second movie less than the first given that everyone, including you, says the second is a lot better.

8 hours ago, majestic said:

It's two seasons, but one story arc. I can only imagine it was two seasons only from a production viewpoint (with the break in between for the first movie), because that never made any sense. Netflix splitting them up into a Clow Card arc and a Sakura Card arc makes a good deal more sense, and it's odd to have one 35 and one 11 episode season.

I think it makes a kind of sense, but I get what you're saying as well. For me, I perhaps imagined there was a subtle tone shift between the first 35 episodes (which ended with the happy-go-lucky Christmas episode, which I thought did actually work as a season finale) and then the next 11 episodes, which were more a little more serious in tone and sort of had a "final act" feeling to them.

9 hours ago, majestic said:

Mini-series are easier because they're usually "just" longer movies and properly plotted out all the way through, but when they are successful they get a second season and it's just going down the drain, usually.

Hello, Stranger Things.

10 hours ago, majestic said:

Nope, that's not acceptable. When next you feel like watching Samurai Hairdo, just click on Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card instead.

I can only do what I can do.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Komi Can't Communicate And Neither Can Her Father.

So we start off going to the pool, which really looks like a waterpark. Maybe this is a cultural thing, but whatever. Tadano, Komi, Najimi, and the dog girl (who has big tiddies, as the show drives home relentlessly) get crashed by Stalker Girl and the gang of Komi-stans. There are changing room scenes, the fellas sans Tadano reveal that they're very horny, and general waterpark/pool stuff. Of course it gets topped off with some minor drama and a sweet resolution that makes it clear Tadanao x Komi is going to happen. Because it already wasn't obvious enough I guess.

We then learn that Komi's dad also doesn't talk. Well I guess he's also Komi but I can't remember their names so eh. He takes her to get shaved ice and they bond over brain freeze. Then Komi goes to the library and makes friends with a baby, before going to the park. Tadano is watching her both times.

Like the other episodes this is just a very light show with low stakes. I'm not terribly invested in it so that helps with not getting annoyed by some stuff, but the pattern of not caring about most of the supporting characters holds up.

[majestic]

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I usually wait to completely evaluate a series in terms of rating until after I've seen all the main parts of it, and I presume I'm right in including The Sealed Card as part of that, . The first movie was an 8.5 for me, so if the second movie really is so much clearly  better than the first, I'm estimating that it'll be a 10 or 10.5, . ...It'll sure be ironic if I like the second movie less than the first given that everyone, including you, says the second is a lot better.

Wouldn't that be something. On the one hand, I'd like to say with confidence that won't happen, on the other hand... you enjoyed the first film a lot more than I did (compared to the series' state at the time it is supposed to be watched I'd rate that one at a measly 7, at best, while the series burns bright with some of the best episodes and the best writing and highest average quality) so there might be less of a difference in enjoyment between the two, if there is any at all. Since the title is "The Sealed Card" I guess it's not too much of a spoiler to say that the asspull in the film is:

Spoiler

The existence of a hitherto unknown card that Eriol, Yue and Kero conveniently never mentioned and are a like "oh, yeah, that old thing, uhm..." about.

If that doesn't bother you, the biggest criticism I had falls by the wayside.

The film won me over within the first two minutes, the opening is so great and funny on both an in-universe and meta level that I had to turn it off and laugh for a while (and come post about it before continuing), so I might be a bit blind to its other faults, i.e. while it's a perfectly made capstone to the series it also helped itself to certain parts that already came up. 's about all I can say without venturing into spoilers.

There's a Kero-Chan movie special too, you should definitely watch that one. It's totally awesome.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I think it makes a kind of sense, but I get what you're saying as well. For me, I perhaps imagined there was a subtle tone shift between the first 35 episodes (which ended with the happy-go-lucky Christmas episode, which I thought did actually work as a season finale) and then the next 11 episodes, which were more a little more serious in tone and sort of had a "final act" feeling to them.

Oh, there is a tone shift towards ending the story arc, that is pretty undeniable, but a lot of the better episodes in the arc happen in the second season too. There's a definite break in between the ending of the first and the beginning of the second season. It seems so strange, the first arc feels completely plotted out and well crafted as a whole, but the seasons are really lopsided in episode count.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Hello, Stranger Things.

I agree somewhat, but still consider Stranger Things one of the mini-series that got good sequels. Unlike, say, season two of Westworld... ugh.

Edited December 3, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

17 minutes ago, majestic said:

Wouldn't that be something. On the one hand, I'd like to say with confidence that won't happen, on the other hand... you enjoyed the first film a lot more than I did (compared to the series I'd rate that one at a measly 7, at best) so there might be less of a difference in enjoyment between the two, if there is any at all. Since the title is "The Sealed Card" I guess it's not too much of a spoiler to say that the asspull in the film is:

  Reveal hidden contents

The existence of a hitherto unknown card that Eriol, Yue and Kero conveniently never mentioned and are a like "oh, yeah, that old thing, uhm..." about.

If that doesn't bother you, the biggest criticism I had falls by the wayside.

The film won me over within the first two minutes, the opening is so great and funny on both an in-universe and meta level that I had to turn it off and laugh for a while (and come post about it before continuing), so I might be a bit blind to its other faults, i.e. while it's a perfectly made capstone to the series it also helped itself to certain parts that already came up. 's about all I can say without venturing into spoilers.

There's a Kero-Chan movie special too, you should definitely watch that one. It's totally awesome.

I was already theorizing that Clow kept a "forward time travel" card to himself, the opposite of Return, so probably not. I'm sure I'll love the movie, it seems impossible that I wouldn't.

The BD version I have of the Sealed Card actually has the Kero-chan "movie" at the end. I only already know this because I had to make sense of the different run-times and had to figure out why they were so wildly different between different blu-rays. IIRC, the Japanese BD sort of just has it tacked on at the end, while it's...either separate or simply not there in the US BD. Or the other way around, either way, I don't remember the exact details.

[Bartimaeus]

39 minutes ago, majestic said:

I agree somewhat, but still consider Stranger Things one of the mini-series that got good sequels. Unlike, say, season two of Westworld... ugh.

I would say they're...okay, but I would have difficulty calling them "good". Narrative repetition, lack of any kind of meaningful intrigue or mystery, characters getting so badly flanderized...really, the only part of the show that remained enjoyable to me was the shenanigans between a few certain characters (mostly Steve and Dustin and the other couple of characters that actually spend significant time with them in season 2 and 3). I'm still considering whether or not I should even bother with the fourth at this point.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Stardust Crusaders 25-27: N'Doul and the Oingo Boingo Brothers.

Okie dokie. Iggy is smarter than Polnareff. The stands get progressively weirder as the series goes on and that's a good thing.

[majestic]

On 12/2/2021 at 7:37 AM, Gorth said:

Taking a break from ripping the clothes off elves, as Mieruko-chan episode 9 got out. A bit of a meh feeling, mostly because it felt like the overall situation didn't change much.

The premise is kind of interesting, but the execution is so... not for me that I better stay clear.