Anime and Manga - How do you Live? Edition

[InsaneCommander]

1 hour ago, Lexx said:

Watched s2ep1 of the new Invincible. Multiverse stuff again I'm so tired of it. Multiverse is boring and predictable and just feels like lazy writing to me now.

Yes, that was disappointing. The main story is interesting enough that I thought they would go right back at it.

[Sarex]

New chapter of Berserk is out.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Spy X Family ep 30

This show is just "you naughty Anya " for every episode. That's OK I guess.

5 hours ago, Sarex said:

New chapter of Berserk is out.

Rickert has returned.

[InsaneCommander]

15 hours ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

Spy X Family ep 30

This show is just "you naughty Anya " for every episode. That's OK I guess.

It seems we are getting back to good episodes. Let's hope so.

[Sarex]

10 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

It seems we are getting back to good episodes. Let's hope so.

Depends. What is bothering you regarding the current episodes?

[InsaneCommander]

1 minute ago, Sarex said:

Depends. What is bothering you regarding the current episodes?

Franky. No, seriously, they seemed less interesting, especially when focusing on side stories and secondary characters. Damian and his friends aren't a problem, but an episode with them camping? It wasn't that interesting.

[Sarex]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Franky. No, seriously, they seemed less interesting, especially when focusing on side stories and secondary characters. Damian and his friends aren't a problem, but an episode with them camping? It wasn't that interesting.

Then I would say not particularly. There are some episodes coming that focus more heavily on the main characters, but overall they will keep on introducing new characters that I didn't find particularly interesting. The biggest thing for me is that the story seems to have lost the plot.

[Bartimaeus]

Harmagedon AKA Genma Wars (1983). It's a Madhouse-made film, and I saw a screenshot of this girl's hilarious chin and decided I would check it out.

Two hours of good art and animation but completely failing to establish world, plot, characters, stakes, and any reason to care later, I reflected that funny chins are perhaps not the ideal manner in which to select films to watch, especially when a film has dismal ratings on even imdb. Whoops.

[Sarex]

Frieren episode 10. This concludes the first arc and I must say they did the story justice. Very impressed with the execution.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Sarex

[Bartimaeus]

Jarinko Chie AKA Chie the Brat (1981).

Well, how's that for a messy poster? I think this is the final Takahata* animated feature I had yet to watch, though it seems to be a bit of an ironic title, as it should really be called (spoilers for just the premise) "Chie Is Very Overwhelmed and Her Life Is a Wreck Because Mom Ran Away and Dad Is a Deadbeat Manchild".

(Who the hell makes blurays that are letterboxed on all four sides? Memories was like this, too!)

Maybe that was too long, though. Now, from what I understand, the original manga that this is based off of is supposed to be a slice of life-ish comedy, and heck, even the movie's poster would seem to suggest that, but...while there are definitely funny parts, the film is way too hard of a commentary on machismo, broken families, and how children are affected by the behavior/decisions of their parents for it to really qualify as an out-and-out comedy, which I am perfectly fine with because this is Takahata at his best: I loved it. After the film was evidently a success, Takahata would also direct a TV series of Jarinko Chie just a handful of months later as well, which I'll have to check out at some point too. Man, it's tough when you go and watch something to finally get it done with and out of the way, and then it's good so you have to go and check out the other related media.

*This also means that the only Takahata film I did not really like was his very first, Prince of the Sun...which is a funny contrast to Satoshi Kon, whose only film I did not really like was his last, Paprika. Weird.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

(spoilers for just the premise) "Chie Is Very Overwhelmed and Her Life Is a Wreck Because Mom Ran Away and Dad Is a Deadbeat Manchild".

While reading this, my first thought was: hey, you already said it is a Takahata film. Spoils enough.

[Bartimaeus]

9 hours ago, majestic said:

While reading this, my first thought was: hey, you already said it is a Takahata film. Spoils enough.

It's always a marvel to watch films where the filmmakers have actual ideas and put in the effort to flesh out and develop its characters, who are so much more than just your average copy-and-paste cardboard cutout impressions like so many others make, so that they can tell those ideas in a manner that is real and impactful. Even the father character, who by all rights I should hate...I don't, because there are reasons, both explicit and implied, that kind of help explain why he is the way he is, and you have Chie being constantly let down and frustrated and embarrassed by him, but still trying to care for him, trying to help him along in the little ways that she can because she is both clever and loving in her own ways, and so you have what would almost always be just a cheap and annoying character pretty much anywhere else take on depth and even a kind of sympathetic quality. I sometimes forget that it is possible for filmmakers to accomplish this kind of thing (even with animated films over 40 years old set in a time, place, and culture so different from my own!) - probably thanks to the endless deluge of films that don't really try because they expend their run-time on things that are apparently much more important than the foundation that is organically telling your story through your characters, right up until I experience a film like this again. Takahata was somehow consistently able to accomplish this feat, particularly in the films that he wrote or helped write himself...and I can't help but notice that the one film of his that I didn't much like, he has no writing credit for.

Of course, I am hugely biased in that I prefer my plots, characters, and themes to be written in a very particular manner...but man, when I look at how Takahata told his stories compared to something like Utena, it feels like a child must have been at the helm of the latter for it to have been the way that it was.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[Lexx]

I'm 3 episodes into the new Scott Pilgrim show and turns out it is quite different from the movie. Kinda thought it would just be some sort of "the movie but in longer" - but seems it's its own thing.

[uuuhhii]

always hated gundam

now heard about a yuri season of gundam

hesitate to try a few episode

Edited November 17, 2023 by uuuhhii

[InsaneCommander]

On 11/9/2023 at 3:52 PM, Sarex said:

Then I would say not particularly. There are some episodes coming that focus more heavily on the main characters, but overall they will keep on introducing new characters that I didn't find particularly interesting. The biggest thing for me is that the story seems to have lost the plot.

They definitely lost the plot, but the current Cruise episodes are as entertaining as the show used to be.

20 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

always hated gundam

now heard about a yuri season of gundam

hesitate to try a few episode

The first season is almost entirely boring school stuff. Then it remembers it's a Gundam series and you get some (real) battles, death and trauma. The second season is much better but still not that good.

[Sarex]

Blue Eyed Samurai episode 1. Idk... There is potential, but I dislike the art style and the cliche story. On the other hand it's just the first episode. I'll give it an episode or two more, as they are an hour long.

 

On 11/18/2023 at 2:23 PM, InsaneCommander said:

They definitely lost the plot, but the current Cruise episodes are as entertaining as the show used to be.

Then good news for you.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Spy X Family has been on that boat so long I think it's a Berserk reference. It's not all bad though, Frankie has all but disappeared.

[InsaneCommander]

Frieren and her friends meet with Dio:

Edit: I didnt notice it, but Frieren is voiced by Anya's voice actress.

Edited November 21, 2023 by InsaneCommander

[Bartimaeus]

Cowboy Bebop, episode 11: Toys in the Attic. It's the Alien-ish rip-off episode. Some little creature is sneaking around biting everyone, which isn't killing them, but making them very sick. Also, episodes 12 and 13, Jupiter Jazz, which were main story episodes that start with Faye running off for unexplained reasons, and then episode 14, the chess episode.

Now, you're probably wondering why I watched so many episodes in a row given my previous glacially slow rate of watching this. Well, as it happens, I thought I was perhaps doing myself a disservice by watching it so slowly, and that I might enjoy it more if I watched more of it consecutively rather than months apart. It turns out that my thinking was very wrong, because now I don't really want to watch any more of this show at all because I'm pretty certain that I just straight up do not like it due to a number of factors that I could go into...but really, why bother? It henceforth goes into that Princess Mononoke tier where there are obviously many good things about it that should place it well above its peers, but...for some reason, no, it just doesn't come together as a whole for me.

In other words, into the trash it goes.

[majestic]

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Cowboy Bebop, episode 11: Toys in the Attic. It's the Alien-ish rip-off episode. Some little creature is sneaking around biting everyone, which isn't killing them, but making them very sick. Also, episodes 12 and 13, Jupiter Jazz, which were main story episodes that start with Faye running off for unexplained reasons, and then episode 14, the chess episode.

Now, you're probably wondering why I watched so many episodes in a row given my previous glacially slow rate of watching this. Well, as it happens, I thought I was perhaps doing myself a disservice by watching it so slowly, and that I might enjoy it more if I watched more of it consecutively rather than months apart. It turns out that my thinking was very wrong, because now I don't really want to watch any more of this show at all because I'm pretty certain that I just straight up do not like it due to a number of factors that I could go into...but really, why bother? It henceforth goes into that Princess Mononoke tier where there are obviously many good things about it that should place it well above its peers, but...for some reason, no, it just doesn't come together as a whole for me.

In other words, into the trash it goes.

You gut a lot further than I thought you would. Perhaps it really was the glacial pace.

Toys In The Attic was easily the worst of the entire show. I hated watching every second of it. Liked Jupiter Jazz a lot more than the episodes preceeding or following it, but that is me and my enjoyment of mysteries. Looking at the episodes a bit more objectively, they basically start with Faye doing something that the plot requires, not something that would make sense in the context of the show. Eh. Well, it would not be entirely out of character for Faye, just a whole slew of episodes too late for her to pull something like that off.

The show certainly shares an issue with Noir insofar as that it promises more than it delivers as most episodes just meander about without contributing anything of note to the character development. Dunno, honestly. Don't get why it was so popular, but as we're currently summoning the Wrath of @PK htiw klaw eriF, well, perhaps he'll swoop in with a longer rant.

Edited November 23, 2023 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

11 hours ago, majestic said:

You gut a lot further than I thought you would. Perhaps it really was the glacial pace.

Toys In The Attic was easily the worst of the entire show. I hated watching every second of it. Liked Jupiter Jazz a lot more than the episodes preceeding or following it, but that is me and my enjoyment of mysteries. Looking at the episodes a bit more objectively, they basically start with Faye doing something that the plot requires, not something that would make sense in the context of the show. Eh. Well, it would not be entirely out of character for Faye, just a whole slew of episodes too late for her to pull something like that off.

The show certainly shares an issue with Noir insofar as that it promises more than it delivers as most episodes just meander about without contributing anything of note to the character development. Dunno, honestly. Don't get why it was so popular, but as we're currently summoning the Wrath of @PK htiw klaw eriF, well, perhaps he'll swoop in with a longer rant.

Toys in the Attic was the episode where I got a few minutes into it and then thought "if I'm ever going to enjoy this show, it should be right here and right now". A totally self-contained story that is tiny in scope but potentially very personal by putting our characters in a dangerous situation together with nowhere to go (bonus points: it seemed to to actually be taking itself kind of seriously instead of having that same old veneer of smarmy crap humor that somehow almost never manages to land for me!), and it's a riff on a classic sci-fi film that I love. And while for the first third of the episode I was still hopeful...

...I actually started writing my previous post immediately after I finished it. Between the awkward and weightless visuals that completely steal the thunder of the 'threat', a lot of weird and clunky dialogue that made our established characters feel like they must have been replaced by doppelgangers that didn't know how to talk or emote like the real characters that they replaced, and then having to bear the full brunt of the stupid humor returning with the effect of completely deflating anything the episode had going for it...well, suffice to say, I wasn't happy with being done so dirty. Then I decided that I might really put the nail in the coffin here by watching a few more, and to follow it up with Jupiter Jazz parts 1 and 2 only incensed me further. Your mention of Noir is timely, because I was literally thinking that I must be watching Noir all over again during Jupiter Jazz. I cannot understate how much I completely fail to connect in any way with these characters and their piecemeal personal stories that the show randomly decides to go 'serious mode' on every once in a while. It feels completely divorced from the rest of the show and thus rendered meaningless, and so these very few 'serious mode' episodes are the absolute worst because they have zero impact which feels worse than just not having them. For me, personally, this show really needed to be more like the mid-section of Neon Genesis (or the second season of Steven Universe), where the marriage of real story and character development was more deftly married and intertwined with the sillier character and episodic stuff, because as it is right now, this feels like two completely different shows that rather rudely replace the other at a moment's notice, and neither of them seem to work with or without each other...though I would say the sillier stuff at least gets closer, even if I still get a bit annoyed with it. At least with that side of the show, I'm not constantly asking myself "why should I care about this?".

What's especially weird to me about all of this is that I don't dislike the characters. In fact, I rather like both Faye and Jet...Spike and Ed not so much, but I didn't particularly dislike either of them, and I'm not really being fair to Ed with how little the show did with her up to the point that I watched. This is one of the rare cases where the show is failing me for reasons other than the characters, and it's failing so bad that I just don't feel like I can keep watching. Structurally speaking, I think there are some similarities with this show to Samurai Champloo, but...I don't know, I feel like that show starts you off on a much better foot, and it gives you both a workable premise and tangible goal that the show kind of herds itself and its characters around/towards, and I think that really helps keep it together and not suffer from the feeling of constant deflation and pointlessness seeping into most aspects of Cowboy Bebop. Also, the main character is a mostly defenseless and yet contrarily rather tactless girl that can't just fight* or smarm her way out of situations all day long like Spike and Faye do in Cowboy Bebop, which for me personally makes for much more interesting ways of handling situations.

*If in my entire life I never again have to see a scene where our character gets completely surrounded and outgunned and outmaneuvered and just plain old outmatched - you know, like an impossible situation that would require our character to actually surrender or run or practically consider what is the least worst option, or really just do anything besides repeatedly press their magical "ha ha, I win" button that makes the entire setup and scene completely pointless...it will have been too soon. Even in shows/movies that I like, I really hate that crap: it's the cinematic equivalent of playing Baldur's Gate 2 and having to fight a horde of goblins when you're an epic level character...except instead of taking exactly one spell to wipe the whole lot of them out, it feels like you have to do it in turn-based mode because of how much time is spent on it when it should obviously be over in just seconds.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

16 hours ago, majestic said:

we're currently summoning the Wrath of @PK htiw klaw eriF

You know that terrible sound people make when they're slowly but surely dying? That awful utmost pity inducing wail of the reversal of the life process?

That's the sound I hear from all these anti Cowboy Bebop Boo Boo the Fools, clinging to a desperate hope that the tide can somehow be reversed and cannot accept the fact that the world is changing in big ways.

Stay tuned for 2071, we're just getting started here

[Sarex]

Green Green Greens. A golf manga, why not I guess.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Spy X Family: Still on the boat.

[Sarex]

24 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

Spy X Family: Still on the boat.

The newest "bonus" chapter of the manga seems to be hinting at some continuation of the "core" story, or at least it's saying that they still remember the premise.