General anime discussion thread

EMaree

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Ooh, Free! has a dub? I didn't know that! I usually watch sub (with the exception of the 90s/early 2000s stuff), so I was not aware of the dub. I haven't seen the Summer one yet. Is it good?

If you enjoyed the first season then definitely watch the Eternal Summer! sub -- it's the same gorgeous animation, weirdly intense swimming drama, and fun sense of humour as before. Both seasons of Free! are great at what they do, fanservice-y swimming drama with subtext galore. I loooveee it.

Since you're not a fan of modern dubs, I'd say stick with the subbed version, definitely.

The dub's only just out from Funimation, I think they're releasing one episode a week or something. I'd recommend it for fans of the dubbed Ouran Host Club, Steins;Gate, Black Butler, or Fullmetal Alchemist series, but it's weaker than all of those, and a lot weaker than the sub. I think it might grow on me once I've watched a few episodes and the voice actors have found their feet.

And if not, ah well, it's still a chance to rewatch my favourite daft swimming anime, and the end theme still makes me really happy. So hey, I'm enjoying it. :D
 
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Latina Bunny

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If you enjoyed the first season then definitely watch the Eternal Summer! sub -- it's the same gorgeous animation, weirdly intense swimming drama, and fun sense of humour as before. Both seasons of Free! are great at what they do, fanservice-y swimming drama with subtext galore. I loooveee it.

.....

And if not, ah well, it's still a chance to rewatch my favourite daft swimming anime, and the end theme still makes me really happy. So hey, I'm enjoying it. :D

Yeah, I liked the first season. :)

Lol, my eyes made a mistake of labeling your Published MG Fantasy as "Digimon Tamers" instead of "Dragon Tamers", heh. Ah, Digimon. Memories. (Along with Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Monster Rancher, Pokemon, etc. Yeah, I was a 90s/2000s girl).
 
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kuwisdelu

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Would I enjoy Free! if I liked Yowamushi Pedal?

I skipped it when it aired since I'm not much for sports anime, but I got into Yowamushi Pedal after I started running.

Also because the boys didn't seem to be my type.
 
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Latina Bunny

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Would I enjoy Free! if I liked Yowamushi Pedal?

I skipped it when it aired since I'm not much for sports anime, but I got into Yowamushi Pedal after I started running.

Also because the boys didn't seem to be my type.

I've never watched the Pedal anime (not into cycling), and it's been awhile since I saw Free!, but I think it depends on what you're looking for in an anime or sports anime.

My sister says Free! reminds her of K-On, but she got a little bored of Free! halfway. (Same with a male friend.) I've seen some people like it and others who get bored with it.

I would say, it's more of a very tame, gentle slice-of-life kind of anime. I'm one of those who likes anime shounen sports action scenes, so I prefer stuff like the over-the-top Kuroko No Basuke and Eyeshield 21.

Free! felt less action-y than those anime. It's more about the feelings of friendship and very mild angst issues with a bit of humor. I barely remember much about the sports stuff. It's more internal emotions stuff and some fanservice. It's pretty straightforward and light. (It's not a deep anime, imho.) Not too much drama happens from what I remember, so it might be boring for some viewers.

What I like about it is that, like Kuroko no Basuke, it has good animation/artwork....and I can find lots of slash fanfiction and cute/pretty/family or slashy fanart, lol. (*points to Kuroko fanart in avvie*) Yeah, I know. I just enjoy reading fanfiction from time to time, and shipping characters. (Because the actual yaoi manga/anime doesn't do it for me.)

BTW, That's for the first season. I haven't watched the Summer season yet.

ETA: The fans I have enountered in convetions for Free! tend to be female, and some were slash fans, so....
 
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Dawnstorm

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Seasonal top 10:

1. Oregairu 2 (If ever there was an upgrade between seasons, this is it. I wish they had kept the old character design, though.)

2. Hibike!Euphonium (First KyoAni show since Hyouka I like. Could they be over K-On disease? This implicitly answers what I thought of Free! - before I dropped it.)

3. Kekkai Sensen (Ooh! Stylish!)

4. Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (good fun)

5. Shokugeki no Souma (just the right amount of drama; generally fun to watch - see also above)

6. Re-Kan (So-so humour, but great when sentimental. I hate the pervy cat.)

7. Yamada-kun to 7 nin Majo (surprisingly low-key romcom; steady source of entertainment)

8. Plastic Memories (Absolutely great at times, absolutely awful at others. Most uneven show of the season. Exemplary characterisation through body-language. This is how you do it.)

9. Mikagura Gakuen (Peaked out early and sort of petered out. But still good fun.)

10. Show by Rock!! (Shingan CrimzonZ!!!!)

Sneakiest show of the season:

Houkago no Pleiades: Much better than it initially looks. Well-crafted story, and anime couple of the season (survived two dynamic-changes). Still didn't make my top 10, though.
 

kuwisdelu

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1. Oregairu 2 (If ever there was an upgrade between seasons, this is it. I wish they had kept the old character design, though.)

I officially have no idea what this show is about anymore. I can't understand what they're talking about. I think I'm supposed to be able to understand the subtext, but I don't.

7. Yamada-kun to 7 nin Majo (surprisingly low-key romcom; steady source of entertainment)

This was one of my favorites.

Fate/stay night was more or less good, but I really wish they'd adapted the Heaven's Feel route, or that they do that next at least.
 

Dawnstorm

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I officially have no idea what this show is about anymore. I can't understand what they're talking about. I think I'm supposed to be able to understand the subtext, but I don't.

For me, the show makes intuitive sense. I can relate. But I find it impossible to explain. It feels a bit overcunstructed at times, though.

This was one of my favorites.

I was suprised at how much I liked this show.

Fate/stay night
was more or less good, but I really wish they'd adapted the Heaven's Feel route, or that they do that next at least.

I got stuck halfway through the first season. Going through that part again was just painful, even if this ufo-table did a better job than deen. I can't be bothered to catch up.

I hear Heaven's Feel is supposed to get a film. I have no source, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
 

Dawnstorm

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I watched at least part of the first oregairu season, and liked it but I don't think I finished it. Is it worth finishing to pick up season two?

Season 2 is all about existential anxiety, a creeping sense of emptiness emerging more and more, because events make it harder to blame society for being superficial when you realise that you yourself don't really know what you want. If you want to watch season 2, you'll need to watch season 1, or you lack the set-up. The second half of season 1 is better than the first half, anyway.

For me, season 2 was an extremely uncomfortable watch at times, almost Welcome-to-the-NHK level. But that's because I could relate. If you can't, I could see it being more tedious and repetitive, or downright confusing. They explain nothing; there are no solutions to problems that are never quite described (which is sort of the existential crisis in the first place: nobody really knows what they want). It hit very close to home for me, and coming from season 1, I didn't expect this at all.
 

Latina Bunny

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Currently watching some soccer anime and reading soccer manga (alongside watching real soccer, more for reference). It's surprising that there aren't that many, actually, compared to the other common sports (like baseball).

Reason I'm watching and reading soccer stuff is because I have a female MC who's into soccer (and it's a fantasy thing, so magic/supernatural abilities are sort of included), so I'm absorbing both non-fiction and fiction material about the sport. I'm having a hard time trying to find soccer fiction books for some reason.

Manga/anime about soccer I'm currently watching/reading:
-Giant Killing
-Inazuma Eleven
-Ginga E Kickoff
-Anything else I can find when I have time...
 
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Season 2 is all about existential anxiety, a creeping sense of emptiness emerging more and more, because events make it harder to blame society for being superficial when you realise that you yourself don't really know what you want. If you want to watch season 2, you'll need to watch season 1, or you lack the set-up. The second half of season 1 is better than the first half, anyway.

For me, season 2 was an extremely uncomfortable watch at times, almost Welcome-to-the-NHK level. But that's because I could relate. If you can't, I could see it being more tedious and repetitive, or downright confusing. They explain nothing; there are no solutions to problems that are never quite described (which is sort of the existential crisis in the first place: nobody really knows what they want). It hit very close to home for me, and coming from season 1, I didn't expect this at all.


Good to know.


Sounds like either I'll really love it or really hate it.
 

Latina Bunny

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Update on my feelings on the soccer anime/manga so far:

-Seems like Giant Killing is more aimed at adults (seinen?), and is realistic. Very slow for me, though. It's frustrating to see the team stink so much, and the manager guy is so vague and frustrating himself ("Just have fun!" is mostly his advice that I see in the manga. How about some scenes with actual strategies? He seems to just watch and let things happen. He seems to give strategies very much behind the scenes, if any strategies are implemented at all.) The team seems to be getting better, but it's a bit depressing, lol. It's not like a shounen where it's happy teamwork or whatever. I'm pretty getting pretty far in the manga, but it feels like nothing has changed too much. The team is actually scoring, at least. Sheesh.

-Inazuma Eleven: Kids' shounen show. Over-the-top fantasy sports action, kind of like Kuroko no Basuke waay more over-the-top extreme than Eyeshield 21, lol...

-Ginga E Kickoff: Another kids' shounen show. Seems a bit more realistic..ish... than Inazuma Eleven...so far...

ETA: All of them looking good, so far. :)
 
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kuwisdelu

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Season 2 is all about existential anxiety, a creeping sense of emptiness emerging more and more, because events make it harder to blame society for being superficial when you realise that you yourself don't really know what you want.

So that's what it's about.

For me, season 2 was an extremely uncomfortable watch at times, almost Welcome-to-the-NHK level. But that's because I could relate. If you can't, I could see it being more tedious and repetitive, or downright confusing.

Well that's the weird thing.

I should totally be able to relate to that — I can relate to Welcome to the NHK in a terrifying way — but Oregairu has just confused me lately.

I wonder why we react to it so differently.
 
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Dawnstorm

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So that's what it's about.

Maybe. It's how I would describe the motif that runs behind most characters' problems (not really Yui, though I might be missing things there). Do things make a bit more sense if you view events through that lense?

I can go into more details, which clearly would involve spoilers.

Well that's the weird thing.

I should totally be able to relate to that — I can relate to Welcome to the NHK in a terrifying way — but Oregairu has just confused me lately.

I wonder why we react to it so differently.

I wasn't really using Welcome to the NHK as a point of comparison, contentwise; I was comparing the intensity of discomfort it invoked (though not nearly as often). I'm not sure why I'm reacting the way I am, either. It's mostly to Hachiman's scenes, but sometimes (with less intensity) to Yukino's. I often keenly feel the awkwardness of ensemble scenes, but that's a more bearable embarrassment.
 

kuwisdelu

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Maybe. It's how I would describe the motif that runs behind most characters' problems (not really Yui, though I might be missing things there). Do things make a bit more sense if you view events through that lense?

Not quite. I mostly have no idea what the main characters actually want. I understood and related when they were being awkward and antisocial around secondary characters, but when they started being awkward and antisocial around each other all of a sudden, I didn't understand why.

I can't read the atmosphere.
 

Latina Bunny

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It's been awhile since I saw it, but I remember enjoying it.

Cool. I'll look it up. :)

I'm liking all the previous soccer anime I have mentioned so far. Ginga E Kickoff and Giant Killing are nowhere near as exaggerated as Inazuma Eleven. Giant Killing feels the most realistic, of course.

Goodness, Inazuma Eleven is like DBZ-level kind of soccer, lol! :tongue Which I don't mind. I mean, I watched a lot of DBZ back in the day, heh. And Kuroko no Basuke in the recent episode has that weird "True/Direct Zone" move (though it may be just metaphorical in the visual sense?). So, yeah, I'm kind of used to over-the-top moves. :)

Plus, it reminds me of those Mario sports/party games my family plays a lot. With the fireball kicks and all that. :D

ETA: Oooh, I wonder if Ginga E Kickoff would include the girl into the team? It would make my heart sing if the few female characters were playing, too. :) At least Ginga E Kickoff actually acknowledges that there is a female national team that plays in the World Cup; that girls and women play sports (soccer in this case), too, etc.
 
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Shadow Dragon

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I watched the first episode of Gangsta, and so far it's exactly what I wanted it to be. Just a dark, kinda gritty action series that isn't overly serious. At least not really serious right away. The obvious comparison to make here would be to Black Lagoon, as it has a really similar setup. Like Black Lagoon, it did a fairly good job of making the main characters be likable while still letting them be more or less the bad guys (well, lesser evil of the area). Nicolas in particular does a good job of leaving a positive lasting impression.

Pretty much, if you like this kind of action show, anything along the lines of Black Lagoon or Michiko and Hatchin, you'll probably enjoy Gangsta.
 

Dawnstorm

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Not quite. I mostly have no idea what the main characters actually want. I understood and related when they were being awkward and antisocial around secondary characters, but when they started being awkward and antisocial around each other all of a sudden, I didn't understand why.

I can't read the atmosphere.

Somehow I missed this post.

For me, it was the other way round. When they were being awkward and antisocial around others, I thought the show was decent, if a bit cliché. When they were being awkward and antisocial around each other, I thought "Oh, wow! The show was aware of that?" I'm not quite sure what that is, though. Maybe it's that if you're stuck in your role as outsider caring for people makes it actually harder to interact with them, not easier. It's the Porcupine's dilemma. The closer you get to your fellow porcupines, the more keenly you feel their quills. But you also become hyper-aware of your own quills: that you're hurting them. But it's certainly not only closeness; I thought the Hachiman/Hayama issue was excellent as well, and that was probably not about closeness at all.

I watched the first episode of Gangsta, and so far it's exactly what I wanted it to be. Just a dark, kinda gritty action series that isn't overly serious. At least not really serious right away. The obvious comparison to make here would be to Black Lagoon, as it has a really similar setup. Like Black Lagoon, it did a fairly good job of making the main characters be likable while still letting them be more or less the bad guys (well, lesser evil of the area). Nicolas in particular does a good job of leaving a positive lasting impression.

Pretty much, if you like this kind of action show, anything along the lines of Black Lagoon or Michiko and Hatchin, you'll probably enjoy Gangsta.

I'm in two minds about that show. It's too macho for me, but at the same time, I do appreciate the anarchic feel of it, and the excellent noir atmosphere. (I haven't watched Black Lagoon yet, and I didn't get very far with Michiko to Hachin, but I can't say I actually dropped it (it was more a not-in-the-mood thing, then.))

My favourite new show this season so far is Shinometa to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai, the show about ecchi terrorism. I'm not sure it has staying power, but the first episode was delightfully over-the-top, with extreme sexual repression leading to fascination with porn and mad scientists experimenting with flies to find out where babies come from (school setting). How do you combat this? Ecchi terrorism - shouting dirty words in public and threatening people with nudity. The first episode was hilarious.
 

kuwisdelu

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Somehow I missed this post.

For me, it was the other way round. When they were being awkward and antisocial around others, I thought the show was decent, if a bit cliché. When they were being awkward and antisocial around each other, I thought "Oh, wow! The show was aware of that?" I'm not quite sure what that is, though. Maybe it's that if you're stuck in your role as outsider caring for people makes it actually harder to interact with them, not easier. It's the Porcupine's dilemma. The closer you get to your fellow porcupines, the more keenly you feel their quills. But you also become hyper-aware of your own quills: that you're hurting them. But it's certainly not only closeness; I thought the Hachiman/Hayama issue was excellent as well, and that was probably not about closeness at all.

As I'm sure you know, I'm keenly aware of the Hedgehog's dilemma from Eva, and it's a concept I love explored in anime, since I relate to it so well.

It's just in this show that I don't get it. You even say you don't know what that is here, either. What is that?

Maybe I'm just dense and don't understand subtext. In Eva, I only had to understand metaphor, not emotional subtext.
 

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As I'm sure you know, I'm keenly aware of the Hedgehog's dilemma from Eva, and it's a concept I love explored in anime, since I relate to it so well.

It's just in this show that I don't get it. You even say you don't know what that is here, either. What is that?

Maybe I'm just dense and don't understand subtext. In Eva, I only had to understand metaphor, not emotional subtext.

Maybe I'm just indulgent and project personal experience. I might completely misunderstand the show. Who knows?

But I do think there's a difference in how we approach shows, in general. I think we've been through this once for Eva. Metaphor isn't nearly as important for me, or more accurately, I'm very literal minded. I need to take a show at face value before I can process metaphor. (I think the context in which we hashed this out was a comment of mine on how Shinji was in a very unusual situation, or something like that. I'm too lazy to search.)

Oregairu doesn't really have a metaphorical level on the scale of Eva. Instead of metaphor they use highly abstract formulisms: "I want something genuine." "I'm not as good a person as you think." During the first half of the first season, I took them at face value, with maybe a bit faux meta-cleverness thrown in. During the second half of the first season, I began to wonder if there isn't more to it. But I thought it was going to be a story about how Hachiman's self-deprecative cynicism is distructive.

When they announced the second season, I wasn't really excited. I only half-remembered the show anyway, but I'd liked it enough that I knew I'd watch season 2. In the beginning I was busy trying to figure out who was who; the new character design, prettied up and smooth, didn't help. I had no idea, for example, who Haruno was - I had to figure that out by content. The first couple of episodes felt a lot like the last couple of episodes of season 2; I had no reason to change my mind.

Then there was that key scene: Hachiman's fake confession to fujoshi girl. I thought that would now lead in to the prerequisite rom-content. But the only one who even acknowledged the implicit love triangle is Yui: the focus was elsewhere. I didn't expect the fall-out to be a complete backlash for Yukino, but it just felt... right. Then a confused Hachiman lashed out at his sister (ooh, how I love Yuki Aoi's low scary voice!), and I had a taste in my mouth I didn't like. Yeah, when you don't know what's going on you isolate yourself. Stuff happens, and then Hachiman has his breakdown, in which he says he wants "something genuine". But it's an empty line; Yukino calls him out on it. In fact, Hachiman is echoing an earlier line of Yukino's about how she thought Hachiman would dispise superficialities just as much as she does.

But despite the line being vacuous, the feelings giving rise to them weren't. I'm not sure I'd call it subtext; spouting cliché lines in this show doesn't represent any deep meaning, I think. Instead they're debris you cling to so you don't drown in your confusion.

And what are those feelings that cause confused teens to seek refuge in stale lines they only half-belief themselves? This is where I think the porcupine metaphor comes in (I know the term "hedgehog's dilemma", but I can't get used to it; for me they're Schopenhauer's Porcupines).

Yui is at the heart of the club. Both Hachiman and Yukino are porcupines with a low tolerance for quills, but high tolerance for cold. They'd keep the formality of the club between them, if it weren't for Yui, a porcupine with a low tolerance for cold and high tolerance for quills. The key plot, club-wise, was then for Yui to get her fellow Porcupines to realise that they themselves, as well as each other, aren't quite as fine with cold as they think. They're just used to freezing. But if she fulfills this job well, and she restores the club to what it is, she'd be ignoring the implicit love triangle, and after Hachiman's fake confession to fujoshi-girl, this is no longer an option for her. (We do not get much development on this this season; Yukino's cookies are the state of affair on that.)

And then there's another important porcupine this season: Hayama. Hayama has more than enough warmth, but he's so sore from quill-stings that he doesn't really feel them anymore. Watching Hachiman play the villain makes him remember the pain, I think. In a sense, both Hayama and Hachiman play assigned social roles on the other end of the quill-cold continuum. But whereas Hayama plays along with everyone, Hachiman takes charge and uses preconceptions about him against the people who hold those preconceptions. During the double-date episode he basically imitates Hachiman's methods, using his popularity as a weapon. But in season one he's always expressed his dislike of those methods. So what do we make of this? To me, Hayama's scratching his sore quill makrs. He's basically lashing out at Hachiman, by defending him in the most embarrassing manner possible. He won't lose much warmth, and maybe the sore parts hurt a little less for a while. "I'm not as kind as you think." Again, one of those empty lines. I think Hayama's kind enough; or kind in one way, and cruel in another. Or maybe indulgent? (In Hayama's situation, I actually do think that's subtext, intended by the character.)

I'm basically waffling around, here, but it's the best I can do. Not sure how much sense this makes. (I've deleted posts like that before, because I think they're confused and directionless, but maybe I should throw an example out there.)
 

kuwisdelu

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I'm very literal-minded, too, except in a different way. I'm literal-minded when it comes to emotions and social subtext. "I want something genuine" is too abstract and vague for me to relate. Compare to Shinji's "I want to be loved and accepted" which I can understand and relate to.

I suppose maybe part of it is frustration with the characters not really plainly stating or admitting what they want. That may be a strength to others — I know many people don't like it when characters state their emotions — but it's something I need and rely on. Otherwise I can get lost easily.
 

Dawnstorm

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I'm very literal-minded, too, except in a different way. I'm literal-minded when it comes to emotions and social subtext. "I want something genuine" is too abstract and vague for me to relate. Compare to Shinji's "I want to be loved and accepted" which I can understand and relate to.

I suppose maybe part of it is frustration with the characters not really plainly stating or admitting what they want. That may be a strength to others — I know many people don't like it when characters state their emotions — but it's something I need and rely on. Otherwise I can get lost easily.

That makes sense to me. Few people in the show actually "tell it as it is." Some don't know how it is, others are secritive, and many are just embarrassed. I mean not even the requests are straight forward, and one of Hachiman's poster-book skills is reading between the lines.

Interestingly, while it's easy to see that "I want to be loved an accepted" is less abstract than "I want something genuine," my emotional reaction to the lines themselves doesn't differ much. They're mostly surface varnish, or at best a vague sense of direction on a more complex topology. I don't even remember lines from Eva; most of the memories I have are visual - for me it's mostly the images that made the show.