The year is over, and I am currently enjoying some paid time off.
Manga
I am still reading GTO and Shibuya Near Family, which are both good.
I have discovered Wasteful Days of High School Girls has someone working on translations of new chapters these days, so that’s neat. It’s definitely one of the most underrated slice of life comedies I have encountered.
Are You A Landmine, Chihara-San? is one of those manga that keeps showing up in r/manga, so I assume it’s not too interesting. However, I have recently seen an interesting video on the Jirai-Kei subculture, so I’m willing to check it out. Maybe it’s good, but I am not that many chapters in.
Anime
I have finished Eureka Seven. It is at its core a romance show, and does very few things wrong. Solid overall, but not excelling in anything. I’d definitely say go check it out, even if it perhaps a bit overrated. B+
I have also finished Season 1 of Black Lagoon (and the gag manga DVD-Bonus OVA, as seen in the thumbnail), and it is very good. Its plot structure is basically the same as those late 80s OVAs that are divided into a bunch of movies. It is one of the most western-culture-influenced anime I have ever seen, and an unusually international in scope too. After the ol’ reliable first major arc that feels like a Lupin III movie (I love those), we surprisingly get a lot of melancholia about the fall of the Soviet Union and the End of History. The author’s a liberal to my knowledge, and such Fukuyama style sentiment of “this is the world we live in. It sucks, but it we can’t do anything about it” is interesting to witness. I am definitely interested to see what Season 2 can bring. Oh, and the music is good. A+
I’ve been watching the original Space Battleship Yamato, after having seen the remake a few years ago and I have been hooked once again. I might even enjoy it more than the remake. Undoubtedly thanks to the very retro charm it has, and the iconic OP and ED. A+
Tokimeki Tonight is a 1982 romcom. Add supernatural themes drawing inspiration from horror tropes, contemporary pop culture (that’s not other anime), fantastic stylistic choices and two chaotic evil main characters / rivals? It’s very fun. Supposedly, it was an inspiration for Sailor Moon. A
Another fun one is Cardcaptor Sakura. Quality episodic magical girl shenanigans. I’m still too early into the show to judge it.
Monogatari: Second Season is good. SHAFT at its best, and even the highly questionable nonsense from seasons past has been toned down. And when Araragi isn’t on screen, it’s even better. B+
Why does Ranma ½ (the original) have so much Happosai?
Donghua
I have started The Legend of Princess Chang-Ge yesterday. A historical drama set in a period of turmoil in the Tang dynasty. Episode 1 was good, and I am interested to see if the rest also is. The 3D animation looks very good.
new cour new post!!
Journal With Witch – a slow slice of life about grief with a niece and and aunt. Nice and relaxing.
Tamon’s B Side – highschool girl (16) meets an idol (18) through her job as a housekeeper and he’s actually a pathetic mess and she bullies him into being a better performer. interesting but not completely holding my attention.
Fate / Strange Fake – I skipped this about 5 minutes in, but maybe I will continue it later. Seems like some sorta detective or mystery story.
Shiboyugi : Playing death games to put food on the table – Edgy, as per the title. Proceed with caution. I’m not familar with the “death games” series but this one has six girls dressed as maids and their goal is to beat the deadly escape room with traps. It’s like, what if we took slice of life and turned it into saw? There is no blood but they turn into stuffing when harmed.
Roll Over And Die – Edgy!! Yuri. A revenge story. We shall see how it goes I guess! I would proceed with caution if you decide to watch this, as I dont know what is in store for the heroines exactly. People in this world (mostly men) have bad intentions.
Isekai Office Worker – dude is isekai’d because he tried to help a woman and got sucked into the teleportation spell but he’s self admittedly a worker drone so he convinces the kingdom to let him work as an accountant. Also he is gay.
Champignon Witch – a cute “black witch” sprouts poisonous mushrooms and lives an isolated life, is disliked and misjudged by society despite wanting to help them, while “white witches” are the ones actively persecuting innocent witches and wizards. Cute but hints at evilness lurking beneath the surface (like dunmeshi)
The Holy Grail Of Eris – Edgy. Proceed with caution. A shy girl asks for help when she is confronted by people trying to ruin her life, and the one to answer the call is the spirit of a woman seeking revenge against those who wronged her. Victorian setting villainess. I like a good villainess :3
also casually watching Space Dandy which reminds me of futurama 🤔
also read Gachiakuta manga,
almost forgot about Tis Time For Torture, Princess! S2 an imperial princess is captured by the hell army and subject to unimaginable horrors, such as a normal wholesome life not provided to her by the imperial kingdom 😉 Its a comedy so it doesnt take itself very seriously. its mainly fluff with an interesting perspective on “good vs evil”
(I have only read Anime/Manga for now!!)
I recently finished Chainsaw Man manga and anime nd Attack on Titan anime and planning on watching JJK anime.
My opinion? Uhh great! I kinda lost like my thoughts on them, but I like Chainsaw Man’s mix of like, humor with real topics. Attack on Titan is depression incarnate and it’s fine really, it’s not something I’ll be invested in as much as with Chainsaw Man. Talking about AoT’s plotline… uhh, so ultranationalism bad, war never changes, and genocide bad. I think that’s the best remembered ideas I got from it. I’m currently writing a more detailed review, but won’t be finished due to exams so… yeah!
Chainsaw Man… I like Asa/Yoru dynamic. And I liked rewatching to see anime/manga differences, I also like seeing a broader world in the anime. Top ship is Asa/Denji, of course. I can’t say much on my detailed analysis, cause I also want to write that, in part connecting it to my Asa/Yoru fanfic about being in Public Safety and how’d that change stuff, and how I handled the plot and themes.
JJK. Heard is good stuff. Not much spoliers except from the most popular memes. We’ll see.
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