Still looking for something to fill the gap between Dandadan season 2 ending and Frieren season 2 starting. Watched the first three episodes of Dusk beyond the end of the world. Not sure of the genre, but interesting so far. Gives me old Belgian comics vibes 

 

edit: I did enjoy secrets of the silent witch. Also obvious why it’s nickname is Bocchi the Witch 😂

16 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Someone who doesn't watch anime with male protagonists because of how awful they and their animes are in 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of cases

 

You still didn't understood my point. Isekai can be interesting as longs the world is interesting. a "op mc" regardless of gender going into Athas - Dark Sun, Warhammer 40k verse, or etc would be much, much better than the typical medieval high fantasy cringefest. 

 

But I do agree that animes with female MCs tends to be better. Even magical ones, see Slayers and Frieren. 

9 hours ago, Gorth said:

Still looking for something to fill the gap between Dandadan season 2 ending and Frieren season 2 starting.

 

 

OH MY GOD!

Not sure if if qualifies as "anime", but I thought this series was very fun to watch so far. It refuses to be embedded, so just a link to the channel. I'm currently up to episode 5 (they are relatively short, like less than 5 minutes each). Fun and adorable characters.

https://www.youtube.com/@milkygalacticuniverse

Edit:

Sort of a prequel leading to the 12 episodes where the girls have to do community service on the Milky Subway Express Limited

(and the only bloody video out there that didn't actively prevent embedding, even the official trailer 1 and 2 doesn't allow embedding 😖)

Edit2: For once a series where I actually liked the English dub better than the original language

 

 

ikoku nikki

only watch it because main character are voiced by sawashiro miyuki

really like the seinen art style and slow pace

would recommend

 

 

Soon... ❤️

Yes, I know its only 10 episodes long. Yes, I know its a different director. Yes, I feel greedy for more. But if it's even remotely comparable to season 1, I'll take what I can get and enjoy it. It most likely ends just before the golden land arch ("El Dorado"). Crossing fingers and hoping that it picks up from there in later seasons then.

 

Frieren... as beautiful as ever. It gives me this hard to explain warm and fuzzy feeling of seeing old friends, that I haven't seen in a long time.

 

The little party is getting itself in motion again, heading towards the northern plateau. Nothing like seeing a familiar face again 😁

First challenge is being trapped in a cave of magic nullifying crystals, reducing the two mages to "ordinary girls" (followed by some hilarious conversation as Frieren has never forgiven Stark for calling her an old hag when they first met)

This time however, he gets to to carry the party. Literally (screenshot is from the "landing" after the ground collapses beneath them and they plummet down into a large cave system)

There is the mandatory fan service (nothing as hot and steamy as Ubels armpits this time)

...and of course flashbacks to Frierens travel with Himmel, Eisen and Heiter. Nothing says "we are a party!" like running away together from a black dragon

 

Frieren... Frieren never changes (she is a messy sleeper) ☺️

 

 

Frieren season 2, episode 2. Like several episodes in season 1, this is two "mini arcs", fleshing out the history of the world of Frieren.

First arc tells the story of "The Hero of the South". They take on a task to clean a statue and much to Starks surprise, it isn't a statue of Himmel this time

Frieren tells the story of The Hero of the South, the strongest hero of humanity and how he took on not just one, but all 7 Sags of Destruction and the Demon Kings confidante, Schlacht the Omniscient simultaneously

His "strongest hero of humanity" wasn't just a boast and Frieren has a flashback to how she met the guy

He tried to recruit Frieren to help him fight the Demon King, and reveals he already knew she would turn him down. As for how he knew, because he had the gift of knowing the future.

He knows he will die fighting the sages and the the Demon Kings main henchman in one years time, but he will kill 3 of the sages in addition to Schlacht, clearing a path for the young hero that comes after him, to finish the job. Frieren is characteristacally unimpressed by anything that goes on around her and has a hard time beliveing some young hero would actually manage to convince her. At first he thinks that Frieren doesn't believe him...

He was a hero indeed, going out in a blaze of glory (and blazing a trail for Himmel and his party).

Second mini arc starts with Frieren beeing in a rather uncharacteristic hurry, rushing through shopping and skipping magic stores entirely to get out of the city (poor Stark!)

The local nobility has a problem hanging on to their family heirloom, a sword that once belonged to a famous demon. Now it has been stolen for the second time in only a handful of generations and Count Dach asks Frieren to help him hunt down the demon thief and retrieve the sword. Frieren reluctantly agrees (the reason she was in such a hurry was to avoid the count, as she seems to have some resentment towards noblemen)

They track the demon by following the trail of devastation. Bloodied apples and wrecked merchant carts, wrecked villages...

No corpses anywhere though, as demons have a weird preference for human flesh (maybe it tastes like chicken?)

A brief but hectic fight scene ensues. The demon may be alone, but she moves very fast and dodges incoming magic attacks

Stark steps between the demon and Fern, and with a powerful kick to the stomach sends the demon flying backwards...

With the physical separation between the Demon and then Stark and Fern, it's time for Frieren to carpet bomb the area to force the Demon to stay put

I see a bright light... might as well have been the oncoming express train

One tactical nuke later and it's over

Followed by musings by Frieren on the nature of demons and their obsession with showing off when they get new toys, as well as human weaknesses when it comes to desire, temptation and impulses. Demons like to go on a rampage to show off newfound strength (like when stealing fancy swords)

In the end though, she thought the whole thing worth it, as the count gave a her a grimoire with a spell she didn't have

 

Frieren episode 3... I will post some screenshots and write up once I get my act together and stop laughing.

Chainsaw Man, season 1 and the Reze movie.

Now...I know what you're thinking. Bartimaeus...Chainsaw Man...shounen action?

Yes, it's difficult to believe... Why would Bartimaeus subject himself to Chainsaw Man? The answer is actually surprisingly simple: I was forced to watch this at proverbial gunpoint. Chainsaw Man is...very important to somebody I know, they have very strong feelings and emotions about the show, and it was basically a "hey, you can either sit down with me and give this an honest to god shot, or...you can find out what will happen to you if you don't" sort of situation. So...did I like Chainsaw Man? Well, funny, that's just what this person asked right after we finished watching the movie, except they phrased it more like, "So you like Chainsaw Man, right? And you're not going to say yes just because it's me and I happen to be tapping my fingers on this dangerous unseen metal object, right?". Um... So in short, yes, I really liked Chainsaw Man, it's probably the best show I've seen in the past ten years.

T.O.R.T.U.R.E.

Believe it or not, while everything I said above is true...I did actually enjoy Chainsaw Man. Mostly. I had some problems with it, and I didn't much care for the first episode, and there was an episode in the middle that I also disliked (the 'stuck in the hotel loop' one), but otherwise...I did pretty consistently find things to enjoy. Is it shounen? ...Yes, more or less, but with tons of subversions and some character dynamics that make it enjoyable. The main character, Denji, is a complete numbnuts of a protagonist, but the show is perfectly aware of it and does a decent job of emphasizing the kind of environment he's always lived in (or rather survived) that made him that way. And of course, the real star of the show is...Power. The psychotic we-care-but-also-we-are-going-to-literally-murder-each-other sibling relationship Denji and Power seem to share is probably the most important part of the show for me...and I just generally have a soft spot for these sorts of intense but wacky yet vaguely malevolent female characters.

Good times.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Bartimaeus

To be a fly on the wall when @Bartimaeus saw the kiss scene.

At this point I think Chainsaw Man is a victim of its own success, the second part of the manga has been very underwhelming for me. Fire Punch seems like an overall better story, but we shall see. It looks to be like Chainsaw Man is ending soon so maybe the buildup is worth it and the ending surprises me.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Sarex