Anime & Cartoon Megathread V: I, Gacha

@dochaus: As someone who also started watching Kaguya-sama, I feel like that show thus far is a case of decent material elevated by really good direction and production values (see: that amazing rotoscoped ED that I watched roughly 10 times in a row). It's got a sharp sense of comedic timing, which combined with the VA and animation makes the difference for me. Not gonna claim it's like, "must watch, anime of the year" material or anything, but it's worth a look for anyone who's curious.

That said, if we're going to talk about potential anime of the year material and amazing production values, holy shit that most recent episode of Mob Psycho 100 had a couple moments where I could not believe I was watching a television anime. This new season as a whole feels like it could end up being something really special.

@animasta: Yah, don't let people tell you otherwise. The lack of strong female characters generally continues as a trend through-out most of what they have so far animated of JoJo. Partly due to era, partly due to genre, partly due too the writer.

It is fair to say/express that the series gets better about it, evolving in many ways like the era what material they are drawing from was produced/made. The era updated, the genre updated, the writer got better. I can't say for sure if the further parts of JoJo hold up as 'great female characters', I've stuck mostly to just watching the anime and avoiding spoilers for the later parts. But I know enough to confirm there are more at least active/central to the plot women in the series going forward.

The part your on is especially egregious, anime wise at the very least, in expressing the whole "little to no women of any value". I mean, the entire arc is about how the one women in the JoJo line isn't strong enough to control her power. She is literally a plot-device with no real character beyond that, and it really stands out in a series that would have been better IMO (and some others but just me speaking) cutting down in episode numbers.

They get back too, I would say "LisaLisa" levels of women character development/importance in the part after this one (though its mostly just guys as well). I can't speak to part 5, I still need to catch up on that.

But yah, no, your spot on in your assessment. What your watching now really highlights the issue.

Chika is #bestgirl this season for this reason alone....

Attack on Titan S3: Wonderful. Distancing from the AWFUL characters of Mikasa and Eren really helped. More focus on Levi/Erwin/Historia, who are well written characters was awesome. I'm still a bit either way on the "human titans", but for the most part I'm enjoying it. Can't wait to start "Golden Wind" tomorrow

A lot of people were balking at Zombieland Saga and its premise. But, having watched the show several times now, I think it is now by far one of my favourite anime of 2018 personal.

Possibly my favourite. Admittedly I dropped most anime in 2018. I need a season 2.

How's Dragonball Super friends? I'm almost entirely caught up on Jojo (Just a week of watching Golden Wind to catch up with) and I'm looking for a big show. I famously adored DBZ as a kid, where for me, it peaked at Frieza/Cell arcs. Is it worth a look in?

The other option is My Hero Academia. Both look good

@sombre: I would recommend MHA over DBS just because the story is so much better IMO but I enjoyed both. DBS has some filler arcs that I didn't enjoy but the action is just as good as in DBZ. The whole "There's always someone stronger than Goku" theme is starting to run out of options in this show. DBS is 131 episodes but MHA is much shorter (for now) since they are on break right now.

I wasn't sure if I was ready for season 2 of Mob Psycho 100% but right from the jump I was ???% back into this show. It continues to excel by combining my love for shounen action and my contempt for career psychics as a profession into a fun coming of age tale with some of ONE's signature satirical humor peppered throughout. I'm still of the mind that this show is hands down better than One Punch Man despite maybe not having the same level of broad appeal.

I've been liking this new adaptation for Dororo quite a bit. It's funny the only reason I knew anything about this series before hand was because of that one PS2 game based on the same property and the only indication I had that it was possibly a Tezuka joint was the design of Dororo himself, which seems like the only character design even remotely intact from the source material. My favorite part has to be the revamped portrayal of Hyakkimaru's predicament making his mere presence very unsettling no matter who he interacts with.

I've been catching up on Run With the Wind and rather enjoy it. I appreciate it having more of a focus on highlighting the ensemble cast and not primarily centering on a singular main character. So far it's been very low key in its depiction of the sport in question, more using it as a source of personal growth in these young adults. Even in the early goings I found myself cheering on these dudes despite there not being any deadly serious competition going on just yet. Also digging the chill vibe of the soundtrack.

@animasta: Yeah even as someone who has loved JoJo for many years I sometimes find it distressing how few people take Araki to task for his bad female characters. I haven't been current on the manga for maybe a year now but even in the current arc there have been portrayals of females that I'd describe as problematic. Even long before that you can look at Lisa Lisa who is definitively a badass but then you have the asterisk of "Well she's a woman so of course she couldn't stand a chance against the main villain, don't be crazy." Unfortunately that's not the last time it happens in the series. As mentioned there are more women to come in Part 3 but I'd describe all of them sharing the defining characteristic of "conniving bitches." The only defense I can offer up is that ALL of the characters are ludicrous: man, woman, child, adult, animal, etc. they're all simply absurd. I'd like to think Araki isn't a huge sexist but rather all about making his characters as heavy metal as possible.

@mezmero: from what I remember about Lisa Lisa and don't quote me on this but araki was gonna make her beat the pillar men but his editors said no to that idea.

so since I posted that I actually just skipped ahead to DiU (I just finished Bastet for context), intending to just watch a few and see if it was any better... and then I finished it in 3 days lmao.

Ugh it's so so so good. It was so compelling in a way Stardust Crusaders was not. I suppose I just liked the characters better (Okuyasu is best boy), but also the art style was also super super amazing. I could literally look at that green sky all day. That final battle was hype as shit too

Miss Kobayashi's Maid Dragon, one of my top 5 favorite anime of all time is getting a 2nd season and I couldn't be happier. The biggest trajedy is there were never any Nendoroids/Figma of Tohru...

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-02-11/miss-kobayashi-dragon-maid-anime-gets-2nd-season/.143234

On another note I just finished Haganai NEXT and am sad there will never be a 3rd season. The ending was so disappointing and didnt' resolve everything. What I've heard about the manga says it goes in a different direction from the original premise of the show so it might be for the best there isn't a 3rd season.

Can we talk about Dororo for a bit? I thought this could be really good after two episodes, but I would have never guessed it could be this good.

Deviating from the source material is totally the right call, because I went through the original manga over the weekend, and let me tell ya, while it's pretty heavy on storytelling details, it is still thin overall by today's standards. The anime staff clearly respects Tezuka's work since there is an unmistakably Buddhist overtone to the whole thing and the general structure is reminiscent of late-era Tezuka. Hyakkimaru's journey is essentially the Buddhist practice of genzoku, a process by which a dedicated Buddhist practitioner returns to lay status, but the irony here is Hyakkimaru, who by definition is born a Buddhist saint due to the lack of any and all worldly desires, involuntarily attains the status through his father's personal greed motivated deal with demons. This is a fairly interesting take since Hyakkimaru would not be making a return journey to the world of desire but a reversed one from sainthood to a layperson. If handled well, the story has the potential to be very impactful. Other instances of similar dynamic reversals exist throughout the few episodes aired so far where Buddhist concepts are juxtaposed against the cruel realities of the story's setting, many of which are meaningfully thought provoking and rewardingly contemplative. The mini story arc presented in episode 5 and 6 is a great example of the anime's capable execution so far.

If this doesn't fumble down the line, I can see it making my 2019 top five, easily.

Speaking of this thread's title, I've found Boogiepop and Others to be great, and also a lot easier to follow than I was expecting. Like, the first episode is intentionally confusing as all hell, but after hearing how the original Light Novels inspired Monogatari I was expecting almost gleeful incoherence.

Instead, once you kinda nod your head and accept that all the characters are surprisingly unfazed by crazy supernatural happenstance it's the kind of thing that's pretty easy to piece together as long as you're paying more than the bare minimum of attention. I think the non-linear storytelling has worked pretty well thus far, but I'm also a complete sucker for the kind of aggressively weird, slightly alienating style it gives off.

Jojo: Golden Wind- Good start to a promising looking season. I like the "crew". I just watched the episode with "Sex Pistols" and I'm enjoying it. So far, Mista is my guy

Still burned out on anime watching and still just reading manga. This season I haven't even been following All Systems Goku.

However, I finally had some convenient time to finish Skullfaced Bookseller Honda-san with a friend. It's about two hours long, so not exactly a big investment. I liked it! It's not spectacular or anything(I'd say Tell me! Galko-chan and Aggretsuko are still my favorite short-time shows), but it's a good time. My friend used to work in retail and I used to do a comic about my friends, so it's the kinda show we watch and just go "yep, yes, same, I recognize that" all the time.

I might have teared up a bit at the end of the latest episode of Psycho Mob 100. Reigen is such a great character.

Goblin Slayer: Awesome. An 8/10 story with a 10/10 ending.

I wasn't overly fond on the gang rape by Gobbos, but it served its purpose. I fucking LOVED the RPG nature of it. I don't think I've ever seen an anime that has D&D elements, but I don't watch these absolute trash MMO anime's, so maybe I just don't see it?

The overall story was interesting, the cast of characters were fun, especially Dwarf Mage, but the finale, good lord.

Having a giant cast of awesome adventurers come together to just kick arse was super awesome. Lancer is MY GUY

I’ve only watched one episode thus far, but Zaizen Jotaro sure is something special. It’s perhaps the most juvenile depiction of coolness I’ve ever seen and it’s beautiful.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/1740/

The newest episode of Mob really heated things up in the story.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind - In regards to the past several Stand battles, I distinctly remember back when I read these chapters thinking "Man, if this could get animated someday it would be freaking awesome. Too bad that'll never happen...." I have not been disappointed.

Run With the Wind - OUJI!!!!! I love you and your love of sports manga. Between this and Hinomaruzumou this has been one of best seasons of sports anime in a while for me. So many good boys.

Dororo is still good. Mob is still great. Saintia Shou is kind of baffling.

Fucking hell JJBA is awesome. I was SO INTO this weeks episode, even if I was a bit "Oh God please don't..."

BTW, for anyone who likes Jojo, I wrote a blog about how much Jojo has affected my life for the positive.

Oh also, Promised Neverland is also fantastic. The stakes were really raised this week. I haven't watched a lot of anime as it's airing, but between Golden Wind and Neverland, I'm really into anime atm :D

Just watched the latest episode of Mob Pyscho 100 and MAN WHAT AN ENDING

I watched the first episode of Thunderbolt Fantasy.

Fuck me that show is wild. I had a hard time following the action because of how weird puppets move. I loved the over the top kinda crappy SFX and the blood though.

I look forward to watching more of this wild shit

Golden Wind is shaping up to be one of my favorite Jojo seasons. Mob Psycho season 2 is good too. But, I'd much rather talk about:

Akazukin Chacha - 06 - This show is great! I think it's quite reminiscent of Magical Circle Guru Guru, with similarly great gags, comedic timing, a fun cast of characters, and a cute art style.

It also contains ohohos:

@sombre Yes! Thunderbolt Fantasy is good stuff!

@hamst3r: Akazukin Chacha is indeed great! That was one of the first anime I ever watched so being reminded of it now is making me want to go check it out again. The 'Magical Princess, Holy Up!' is still pretty much burned into my brain to this day.

Dororo - Ow, my heart. And here I thought Hyakkimaru was the one with the cruel origin story.

Run With the Wind - ARRGH MY HEART! Might need to promote Shindo to best boy if he wasn't already.

So I saw it mentioned in a Funimation newsletter and started watching Magical Girl Spec Ops Asuka.

In a nutshell: Evil teddy bear demons invaded Earth and almost destroyed it. Eleven girls became Magical Girls and, with the help of the militaries of the world. fought off the demon invasion. Asuka is one of the five surviving magical girls and is trying to live a life of peace in high school. Shit gets real again and she needs to suit back up.

I don't actually know if it is good or not. It is definitely far more pervy than I like and oversexualizes every single teenager on the show. I have had a lot of "what the fuck am I watching?" moments, but I think that is just the shock factor of Sailor Moon with ultraviolence (and, for all I know, Sailor Moon DID have ultraviolence).

The premise is interesting though and I think there is plenty of room to have some pretty powerful scenes and writing. I just can't tell if the show runners are waiting to earn those moments or if they have no intention of going there. About seven (?) episodes in and we are starting to get a feel for Asuka and her survivor's guilt and PTSD, but it also seems really quick to drop that in exchange for a girl talking about all the other girls' "smokin' bods".

I kind of have a feeling that by the end of the season this is either going to be one of those "oh my god, you need to watch this. It is amazing" shows or it is going to be something I refuse to acknowledge I watched and then have to shamefully explain to Chris Hansen.

Finally started watching The Promised Neverland and I'm like what makes this so special? Get to the end of that first episode and I get it. Certainly lived up to the hype unlike That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime everyone has been raving about. I gave it several episodes but not for me. I think I hate any anime where it features a person being magically transported to a video game world. Is there a fancy name for that subgenre?

I watched the first three episodes of Boogiepop and the first episode didn't grab me but the second and third episodes were weird enough that I might still keep watching.

Isekai anime are real popular right now.

The second half of JJBA P5 started off well. The new OP is good, even if its spoils a lot. I haven't read the manga, but the reveals in it are really dissapointing, as I wanted to see them naturally

Promised Neverland continues to be pretty good, but kinda getting boring? The initial premise was good, but it hasn't really gone anywhere

My Hero Academia- First five episodes are good. I like how it's basically One Punch Man

Question: Is the first...ten seconds of the One Punch Man OP the best anime OP song of all time?

I'm of the opinion that it wasn't even the best OP of that season with the honors belonging to the first OP of IBO (Raise Your Flag by MAN WITH A MISSION).

In other news, Mob continues to exist on another plane of quality.

@instantryan: Mob is so great. I fucking lost it when Reigen just casually walks up to the dude and decks him with a series of plain punches. Pretty sure this is going to be my #1 for 2019. Topping Mob will be really, really hard.

I love Reigen so much. Even with like 2 minutes of screen time he steals the episode.

MHA Quick take: I love the cast of characters, but hate the two "Main" characters I guess?

I loathe how Deku just seems to fucking cry ALL THE TIME, and I can't stand Bakuga. I hope he humbles FAST

MOB #1 - Basically does everything right all the time.

Dragon Ball Super - Episode 70 (Baseball) - I'm also continuing to enjoy this and all the places it's going with the lore. The ever-expanding DB universe is basically my favorite thing about the series alongside the tournaments.

Witchblade - 15 - Surprisingly good so far, and more emotionally resonant for me than I was expecting. Really digging some of the music too. The horny fighting and tormented villains are pretty doofy, but not enough to impede my enjoyment.

Well, OPM is coming next week, duders. Hopefully, the PV isn't an accurate indication of what the production situation is like at the moment, because for a PV this is pretty poor, especially when your show is airing in a week. Between OPM, Index, and Date A Live, it is looking like JC might have bitten off more they can chew. Fingers crossed, maybe it'll all be okay.

Haven't managed to keep up with any anime this season other than Run with the Wind which was continuing from last season. It's such a wonderful show that I wholeheartedly recommend. Just a beautifully inspirational and uplifting show about the joy of aspiration for a goal, of moving toward said goal with your friends, and about the joy and pain of running and winning against yourself.

Looking back on it, it's a bit of an odd show in that it is intensely focused on the relationships between the characters, yet almost entirely forgoes melodramatic conflicts. The show consistently shows the buildup of these interpersonal tensions then proceeds to hide the moment of heated emotions in the time between episodes, instead choosing to focus on the conflict resolving after the characters have had time to cool down and process their thoughts and emotions. In the exceedingly few times that it does show these heated moments, it does so to great emotional effect, never letting them drag for too long. What results is a show positively bursting with hope, that beyond turmoil there is joy to be found among your friends.

Basically, if you want a light, breezy, yet emotionally gripping show then I can't recommend this enough. While not quite as good, this show to me felt very much like A Place Further Than the Universe except with a bunch of good looking guys instead.

I've been casually watching anime this last...week or so? And really enjoying it :)

Promised Neverland is really cool, but I'm very cross about how it's gonna end. I know they're probably gonna escape, but...then I have to wait probably a year to see what's behind the gate.

JJBA continues to be great, even if it's kinda devolved back to "Stand villain of the week" material. I'm not saying that's bad, but it's kinda like Cowboy Bebop. I was GAGGING for overarching plot, and anytime it came up, I devoured it like the greedy pig I am. I feel JJBA is kinda like that. I know it's all part of creating a bigger world, but I wanna see more about Trish and the Boss. Shoutout to the new OP which I must listen to 5 times a day?

My Hero Academia S1- What a fucking great start to a shonen. I will admit, I'm a little on the fence about the fact Deku cries...every episode? I don't like my shonen protags to be whiny babies, but I SUPPOSE I kinda get where it's coming from. My favourite character is Tsu, cause she DOES IT for me. I also fucking LOVE All Might.

Well Mob Season 2 was just fantastic wasn't it? I no longer have anything to look forward to on Mondays :(

The new season is already upon us and it starts off with the return of the baseball boys, Ace of Diamond.

I appreciated the small little recap at the beginning and having the names of all the players throughout the episode because I sure don't remember any of the smaller characters.

@sombre: A lot of people seem to have the "why does he cry so much" problem with Deku. He pretty much stops that by the end of the first season, so it's not a recurring thing, just part of the stress of a fourteen year old being given the greatest power known to mankind by his childhood hero and then figuring out how to actually use it without destroying himself. The second season is the part of that show that really knocks it out of the park.

Alright, might as well put what I thought of this season's shows. Still might end up watching Shield Hero, which looks like the kind of problematic, pandering Isekai trash I need in my life, as well as Promised Neverland. Anything for Spring I should be paying attention to? The new Fruits Basket?

Boogiepop and Others: Boogiepop is a weird, detached, thoughtful show, and for the most part that worked for me. If I have a problem with it, it's that the nonstandard story structure really doesn't give much in terms of meaningful closure or conclusions on a broader basis, so I guess it's time to read the original light novels or hope for a Season 2. Also worth mentioning that it's the same general animation team behind the first season of One Punch Man (RIP season 2) so it looks downright gorgeous at times, even when characters are just talking. Also, this is something that really benefits from being binge-watched instead of week-to-week.

Mob Psycho 100 II: Just fantastic on every level. If I was one of those monsters who started throwing around the words "Anime of the Year" in Winter, this would be right up there for sure. Watching Mob grow from an intentionally boring character at the beginning of season one to where he is at the end of this is some A++ character development.

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War: The weird stealth hit for me, in regards to being a show I was originally never going to give the time of day until I saw that Chika Fujiwara dance. It gets far more mileage out of its premise than I thought possible, and a lot of that comes down to good comedic timing and voice acting.

OPM2 is... Oh, boy... First episode of the new season is a recap episode of season one... I'm still willing to give JC the benefit of the doubt for now. Maybe this is intended and not a symptom of failing to meet deadlines. Maybe it'll pull a Date A Live, and we'll be okay. NAH, WHO AM I KIDDING, THIS WILL LIKELY BE A HOT MESS. FUCK.

Gonna echo the sentiment that Mob is absolutely kick-ass, even more so than season one. Positive energy all around. *big thumbs up*

Finally saw Into the Spider-Verse and loved it to pieces. It honestly uses the concept far better than the comic its based on and has some of the most incredible animation stylings I've seen in a feature film maybe ever.

Mob Psycho 100% Season 2 was great of course, can't say enough good things about this show. The first season was my favorite animated thing in the year it came out and now the second season is no doubt going to be a fave if not THE fave this year.

I maintain that it was a great season for A-Sports...anime sports... It pretty much covered both ends of the spectrum. On one end you had the over the top gutsy shounen pathos of Hinomaruzumou and on the other you had the sweet interpersonal slice of life tale of Run With the Wind. The latter is certainly where you'd go for nice looking animation and deep character feels. I agree with pretty much everything @imhungry said about it, just a beautifully done show that stuck the landing in a way most stuff doesn't.

It must be baseball season or something coming up since there's a grip of new shows that are baseball-centric. One of which is Diamond no Ace which I'm super stoked to see coming back. Another of which is a reboot of Touch? That seems like an odd thing to be bringing back in 2019 but okay. Then again I have to admit it's been sort of a renaissance for rebooted retro stuff lately. Thinking about Dororo, Devilman, Ashita no Joe, and several seasons of Lupin III, there have been loads of re-imaginings that have been knocking it out of the park in terms of splitting the difference between homage and originality in wonderful ways.

I was a bit cold on MHA S2. It was GOOD, but it just didn't have that "Umph" that drove me over the edge.

Until the Midoriya vs Todoroki fight. That was some fucking QUALITY shit. The music, the visuals, the story, fuck me it was so good. I'm still very cross with Bakuga, as he just comes across as this massive prick who I can't STAND. I can't wait till he gets fucking battered by someone.

One Punch Man was weird. I like the focus on characters, but I don't know why modern anime has this fixation with using 3D-CG in their animation. It never looks good, and never will.

Maybe I was just spoilt being brought up on 80's stuff where there was care given to animation.