Anime and Manga - It's time for you to finish what you've started and watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

[InsaneCommander]

On 1/17/2023 at 6:03 PM, Space KP, Baby said:

There are four shots there!

[InsaneCommander]

 Attack on Titan Splits the Final Season Part 3 in Two Parts, Sets Premiere Date 

I blame this on @Space KP, Baby, who made a joke just about it months ago. Stop giving them these ideas.

 

Meanwhile, I decided to try one of the new animes of the season. It seems I missed some weird ones:

• Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World
• The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady
• The Handyman Who Got a New Life in Another World
• Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire
• Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement

 

This last one seems to involve guns for some reason:

 

Ok... I think I’ll watch Kaina of the Great Snow Sea instead, it seems much better than the weird ones.

[Gorth]

I watched an episode of something called Lycoris Recoil (I think). It was hilarious

No idea if I'm going to watch more of it, but I did get a good laugh out of it. Just not sure if it keeps up.

 

[uuuhhii]

37 minutes ago, Gorth said:

I watched an episode of something called Lycoris Recoil (I think). It was hilarious

No idea if I'm going to watch more of it, but I did get a good laugh out of it. Just not sure if it keeps up.

 

lycoris have some really weird acgn style problem

like come really close to have some kind of social commentary then just give up and sell cute girl

music are nice though

Edited January 19, 2023 by uuuhhii

[InsaneCommander]

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea 1-2

The story takes place in a future Earth that has the surface covered by snow and a dome on the atmosphere. Kaina is a young boy who lives with five elders in a village near the dome (inside one of the trees who keep the dome in place). They believe thjey are the last of mankind. Until one day a girl called Liriha appears in a balloon in search of a mysterious sage that supposedly lives up there.

With no idea of what she is talking about and knowing that her people are in a dire situation facing an invasion force and a scarcity of water that only the sage could fix, they decide to send Kaina down the tree with the girl, knowing that there is no way for them to come back (the balloon wasn’t exactly easy to acquire).

 

Spoiler

If I had to guess based on these two episodes, then I’d say that something similar to Snowpiercer’s story is going on. They created the dome to protect the planet from something and it ended up freezing the planet and creating the Great Snow Sea. Who knows.

And I think it’d make sense if the sage is the elder that could read Japanese, something he was teaching Kaina. Perhaps they simply need someone who can read a manual somewhere and pump some water to their faucets? I suppose the “snow” sea is not really snow or they would have figured out how to turn that into water.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

17 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

I blame this on @Space KP, Baby, who made a joke just about it months ago. Stop giving them these ideas.

Mark my words: Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 3 - 2nd half will end with a movie announcement. Attack on Titan: The Final Season: The Movie will have two sequels to boot.

[Sarex]

Frieren at the Funeral is on a hiatus again. Why are all good manga cursed with irregular schedules.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

In other news I saw a trailer for Sailor Moon Crystal's next movies. I'm sure some of us will have a lovely time with them.

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Space KP, Baby said:

In other news I saw a trailer for Sailor Moon Crystal's next movies. I'm sure some of us will have a lovely time with them.

Is there a trailer? There was a teaser like a year ago, and it broke me. Please tell me it's just the teaser, not an actual trail... never mind.

IT IS GOING TO BE JUST LIKE JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK APOKOLIPS!

Well, somewhere in the afterlife, Seiya's original voice actress is facepalming. Well, at least the trailer is absolutely gorgeous... not. And, supreme lol at the fandom gobbling up two movie releases within a month to rake in some extra sweet cash. Can it get any more cashgrabby than that? At least Anno spent years working on his terrible remake/soft reboot/alternate timeline versions of NGE.

This here? Animated one movie, sell it as two. Well, f*ck you too.

Edited January 19, 2023 by majestic
Trialer -> trailer

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

23 minutes ago, majestic said:

Is there a trailer? There was a teaser like a year ago, and it broke me. Please tell me it's just the teaser, not an actual trail... never mind.

IT IS GOING TO BE JUST LIKE JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK APOKOLIPS!

Well, somewhere in the afterlife, Seiya's original voice actress is facepalming. Well, at least the trailer is absolutely gorgeous... not. And, supreme lol at the fandom gobbling up two movie releases within a month to rake in some extra sweet cash. Can it get any more cashgrabby than that? At least Anno spent years working on his terrible remake/soft reboot/alternate timeline versions of NGE.

This here? Animated one movie, sell it as two. Well, f*ck you too.

At the very least we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that this will stop the Crystal wave of Sailor Moon adaptations and let us focus our attention on the perfection that is The Handyman Who Got a New Life in Another World. Or will it?

[InsaneCommander]

25 minutes ago, majestic said:

Is there a trailer? There was a teaser like a year ago, and it broke me. Please tell me it's just the teaser, not an actual trail... never mind.

IT IS GOING TO BE JUST LIKE JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK APOKOLIPS!

Well, somewhere in the afterlife, Seiya's original voice actress is facepalming. Well, at least the trailer is absolutely gorgeous... not. And, supreme lol at the fandom gobbling up two movie releases within a month to rake in some extra sweet cash. Can it get any more cashgrabby than that? At least Anno spent years working on his terrible remake/soft reboot/alternate timeline versions of NGE.

This here? Animated one movie, sell it as two. Well, f*ck you too.

 

[Bartimaeus]

It's no wonder the youth of today shoot up schools and throw themselves off bridges en masse - forget social alienation and the inability to form stable bonds and friendships, substance abuse/addiction, and the general mental health crisis, I'm pretty sure Sailor Moon Crystal is responsible for it all. When is infamous supercriminal Naoko Takeuchi going to be held responsible for her crimes?

Edited January 19, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[InsaneCommander]

2 hours ago, Space KP, Baby said:

At the very least we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that this will stop the Crystal wave of Sailor Moon adaptations and let us focus our attention on the perfection that is The Handyman Who Got a New Life in Another World. Or will it?

Omg, it's even worse than it seems:

 

[Bartimaeus]

Princess Arete (2001).

Yep, that's her. Her hair's not really quite that poofy normally, she's a bit too close to the camera. Right, first ten minutes of the film contain a fairly simple premise: Arete's father, King [Arete's Dad], sent out a quest for adventurers to travel [to where? Africa is mentioned, what country does this even take place?] in search of powerful artifacts - he who returns with the most valuable will take his young daughter's hand in marriage! What an awful idea. According to the officials accepting and storing the magical items, it's because the kingdom is facing serious financial difficulties and selling off these magical artifacts seems a surefire way to replenish their coffers. I suppose that's...effectively a reverse dowry, except they also take the artifacts from the guys who don't even get to marry her. Weird...you know, it kinda just sounds like a total scam. Anyways, here's the interesting bit: this search for artifacts already happened before the film starts - the adventurers are all walking in the front gate with their bounties right as the film begins as Arete quietly looks on from her locked tower and contemplates.

Spoiler

In actuality, the artifact-hunting was apparently Arete's own idea, though her reasons for suggesting it are different from the official position.

It was an incredibly odd and slow film and I'm not sure what to think of it.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

It was an incredibly odd and slow film and I'm not sure what to think of it.

Are you trying to get me to watch this?

[InsaneCommander]

Space Dandy 16-18

The crew goes fishing and Dandy goes back to high school. This was the easiest alien they could have registered. And the first girl to fall for Dandy. But they got carried away with the school stuff and went off to infiltrate a girls-only school.

I'll assume the girls he was interested in were all underage. Luckily, none of them gave him any chance.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

47 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Space Dandy 16-18

The crew goes fishing and Dandy goes back to high school. This was the easiest alien they could have registered. And the first girl to fall for Dandy. But they got carried away with the school stuff and went off to infiltrate a girls-only school.

I'll assume the girls he was interested in were all underage. Luckily, none of them gave him any chance.

The parody of high school musical was out of nowhere and played perfectly.

[Bartimaeus]

2 hours ago, Space KP, Baby said:

Are you trying to get me to watch this?

No, I don't think you'd like it at all.

[InsaneCommander]

27 minutes ago, Space KP, Baby said:

The parody of high school musical was out of nowhere and played perfectly.

Even Dr. Gel was singing.

[majestic]

PGSM is currently trying to add some conflict between Naru and Ami, and it's not really working too well. I wonder if that is what will cause Ami to become DARK MERCURY.

In other news, I've been playing Wolcen instead of watching anything.

Edit: Uh, apparently not, and Mamoru suddenly has a girlfriend. This is going places with no real setup for dramatic effect. Nope. You can do that better, show. Try harder next time.

Edited January 21, 2023 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

No, I don't think you'd like it at all.

I'll take your word for it. So if it's not odd as in "so insane KP would like it", in what ways is it odd?

6 hours ago, InsaneCommander said:

Even Dr. Gel was singing.

I think Dr. Gel works best when he gets caught up in the antics, like joining the wacky races out of nowhere.

[Bartimaeus]

26 minutes ago, Space KP, Baby said:

I'll take your word for it. So if it's not odd as in "so insane KP would like it", in what ways is it odd?

It's difficult to put into words exactly, but it's more something that perhaps majestic and I should love because of it being 95% slow character-driven dialogue with some big themes behind it...in theory, but because of how bizarrely it handles some of its ideas and elements, and because of its penchant for taking weird and difficult to understand turns, it doesn't quite land entirely as it should yet still feels like a worthwhile watch anyways. One third of the way through it, I thought I loved the film and what it was going for, and then I watched the rest and it and...I'm still just not sure what to make of it. I guess I'm kind of reminded of my experience with Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which is also a pretty oddball film with the slowest pacing out of any of their films. Though I'd say it was reversed in how I felt about them, as it was the last third (and not the first) of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya that I thought was awesome while I wasn't sure how I felt about the rest. It doesn't help that they have pretty similar themes and ideas.

2 hours ago, majestic said:

PGSM is currently trying to add some conflict between Naru and Ami, and it's not really working too well. I wonder if that is what will cause Ami to become DARK MERCURY.

In other news, I've been playing Wolcen instead of watching anything.

Edit: Uh, apparently not, and Mamoru suddenly has a girlfriend. This is going places with no real setup for dramatic effect. Nope. You can do that better, show. Try harder next time.

Did Naru and Ami ever speak to each other even once in the original show?

Edited January 21, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

More of Monster. As expected it has spiraled more with Dr. Tenma entering the very unhygienic phase of obsession and guilt for inadvertently unleashing a brutal serial killer on the world. I'm having a good time, it's a nice counter as a "normal" murder mystery to whatever the hell is going on with Twin Peaks (which is currently at the point where David Lynch left and the show turned into a cluster****).

35 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

It's difficult to put into words exactly, but it's more something that perhaps majestic and I should love because of it being 95% slow character-driven dialogue with some big themes behind it...in theory, but because of how bizarrely it handles some of its ideas and elements, and because of its penchant for taking weird and difficult to understand turns, it doesn't quite land entirely as it should yet still feels like a worthwhile watch anyways. One third of the way through it, I thought I loved the film and what it was going for, and then I watched the rest and it and...I'm still just not sure what to make of it. I guess I'm kind of reminded of my experience with Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which is also a pretty oddball film with the slowest pacing out of any of their films. Though I'd say it was reversed in how I felt about them, as it was the last third (and not the first) of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya that I thought was awesome while I wasn't sure how I felt about the rest. It doesn't help that they have pretty similar themes and ideas.

I think I understand. That's how I feel about PoE.

Nothing in that description really sets off any do not watch alarms for me, I love There Will Be Blood and if there is a slow character-driven film that is it. Though I suppose that the princess is nothing like Daniel Plainview.

If this doesn't go through I will

[Sarex]

@Space KP, Baby I have been circling around Monster for a decade now. Can't wait to see how it ends up for you. I may finally give it try.

[majestic]

6 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Did Naru and Ami ever speak to each other even once in the original show?

I don't think so. Naru doesn't interact much with anyone but Usagi in the anime. The idea isn't bad, actually, as Ami is envious of Naru's seemingly effortless way to be friends with Usagi, but Ami's actress is really limited, either by the direction or her ability (probably both), Usagi only works if she's not told to overexaggerate her expressions and mannerisms in an anime-esque manner, which she sadly always is when she's with Naru, and Naru's acting is about as limited as Ami's, but her expressions are a tad better.

I can't really fault the writing (unlike when Mamoru suddenly shows up with a girl to hurt Usagi with no prior setup, and since he's an orphan with no relatives, he can't well have a sister - and even if she is his sister, it's still bad writing). The setup is there, from the episode where Ami spends time with Naru and Usagi, to the way she does not want Naru to see the effects of Kunzite's attack on Usagi, it also makes sense that Ami would be envious of Usagi's other friends for how easy it all seems to be for them. Basically, it is not working as well as it should because it is an anime adapation, the direction is not good for these scenes and the actresses involved seem to not be up to the material they are given. It is not made better by the constant reminder that Sailor Moon S's episode where Ami feels like she's not really part of the team is one of the top episodes of the original anime.

I'm not sure I should be complaining about the acting in a shoestring budget TV show, but the biggest issue is that none of the three are able to properly sell it. I don't know if the episodes have different directors, but there are things that work really well. Usagi and Makoto work when paired together, as does Minako, as long as one likes super serious Minako - although to be fair, Usagi manages to bring out Minako's silly side, but Minako was in something like three episodes so far.