Topic: Manga and Anime discussion

I've never been a fan of anime, which is a bit weird considering my love for games like Persona, Trails of Cold Steel and Danganronpa, which are pretty much anime games. But for some reason, I was in a mood to watch some anime a couple of weeks ago and I decided to pick one on Netflix where the setting is similar to the aforementioned games, i.e. high school. So I went with a show called Toradora. Today I finished watching it and it was everything I expected it to be. It was basically like experiencing Persona 4 Golden all over again. It's such a chill and wholesome show as well as very fitting for the summer. I really liked all the characters and the story was nice, even though it focused a bit too much on romance for my taste. There were so many love triangles in this show lol.

Anyway, I feel like Toradora was a great introduction to the world of anime for me and I'm looking forward to starting up a new show soon. There's so much for me to watch, like Cowboy Bebop, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Demon Slayer etc. Not to mention Netflix's own shows like Castlevania, Cyberpunk and Arcane. Lots to look forward to!

I really need to catch up on Demon Slayer. I watched a few episodes last night but still have about half of the third season to go.

My most recent collection additions.

Gunbuster - Really excited to get to this. I've only ever watched the abridged movie version a few years ago on HiDive. Thought about buying that version physically but held off in the hopes that the entire thing would get a remastered release some day, and luckily my patience paid off.

InuYasha Set 6 - Last set of the original series. Just getting ready to start the last disc. Been pretty nice rewatching one of the favorite anime of my teens, though I will say it starts to lose steam after the first couple seasons.

Urusei Yatsura: Remember my Love - Just watched it over the weekend. Not as good as Beautiful Dreamer, but still a good time.

I know Mario isn't anime, but I plan on posting the pic in some other spaces (non-anime exclusive) as well, so figured I'd throw it in.

Think I forgot to post these here.

Project A-Ko 4: Final - Watched it a couple weekends ago. A decent watch if you liked the earlier ones, though I don't think it's as strong as the first two.

Cyber City Oedo 808 - This was pretty dope. I just love the sci-fi anime of the 80's & 90's, and don't think I'll ever tire of it no matter how much of it I watch. The style is just so cool, and I enjoyed the over the top edgy English dub.

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid - Now, I like the occasional Ecchi anime as a guilty pleasure from time to time, but this was just a bit too much for me. It seems like something happened in the past decade that has caused these things to become a lot more risque than they used to be in the 90's, 00's, & early 10's (a transformation that you can see play out across the 4 seasons of To-Love-Ru, though I think this pushes even harder than that show's latter seasons).

Venus Wars - Haven't watched this yet, but am excited to get to it. It's another 80's sci-fi anime film, so I'll probably love it.

Forgot to upload these here.

InuYasha: the Final Act - Definitely feels rushed (especially the first 6 or so episodes), but it's probably the best animated bit of the series & it always feels good to see the long running narrative threads get tied up (certain parts make me tear up no matter how many times I watch it).

Urusei Yatsura: Lum the Forever - Maybe I just need to give it a rewatch, but this has been the most confusing of these movies yet. Feels like they were trying really hard to emulate Beautiful Dreamer but it just doesn't work as well on any level.

Alternate box arts (under the slip covers):

Been rewatching Jujutsu Kaisen in prep for season 2, forgot how much I enjoyed just a pure, no nonsense, shounen. It is probably one of the more nonsensical shounen out there, like someone try and explain to me how any of the actual powers and systems work (even the manga included math like diagrams to try and explain things), but it’s oftentimes gorgeous animation and healthy pacing just make it such an enjoyable popcorn watch.

@Pizzamorg The first season is really good. Not sure if you've seen it but check the movie out as well. It's bloody brilliant!

Loved that movie! Shounen at it’s purest joy form.

@Pizzamorg It really is a proper good movie. I might have to give it another watch tonight. 😅

Been awhile since my last post so this will be larger than usual.

Demon City Shinjuku - Demons have taken over Shinjuku and now a young man who knows some sort of spiritual swordsmanship must keep them from spreading worldwide. Kinda feels like a moodier take on something like Yu Yu Hakusho. Pretty fun stuff.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation - Animated OVA prequel to the live action Zeiram horror/action films. Pretty good 90's sci-fi action stuff.

Prison School - Raunchy comedy, a lot better than it has any right to be. A girl's only school goes co-ed and the few male students get thrown into an honest to goodness jail on campus after they spy on the girls' baths. A hilarious cat and mouse game soon ensues as the boys try to formulate an escape plan all the while the student council conspires to get the boys into even more trouble so they have an excuse to expell them.

Urusei Yatsura TV Collection 1 - Currently going through this. It's one of the oldest TV anime I've ever watched (though the first Lupin series probably has that honor of being the oldest), and it definitely shows in the animation quality, however it'll occasionally have an episode where the quality really jumps up. Episodic comedy, it can be pretty humorous.

Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling - a 10th anniversary film. Pretty much felt like a long episode, but it was fun seeing this world animated with a more distinctly 90's style rather than 80's.

Urusei Yatsura: the Final Chapter - The conclusion of the manga in film form. Pretty decent, but I didn't think it was very strong/definitive for a finale.

Wicked City - A pair of secret agents (one human & one demon) must team up to protect an ancient dignitary who holds the key to prolonging a peace treaty between the human and demon worlds from a group of demon extremists who want war. This is good stuff with a lot of creative body horror on display, but it's not for the easily offended (this is one of those 80's OVAs that really likes to push the boundaries of gore & nudity).

BONUS: Alternate box arts.

Hadn't realised how long it had taken me to clear it, damn Baldur's Gate taking up all my time!

I am now up to Season 2 now, working my way through the opening flashback arc.

It has a subtle - yet somehow jarring - change in production staff on the back end, which changes what you see on the front end. It feels more akin to Mob Psycho now, with simplified visuals for a focus on fluidity. Not necessarily a huge departure on first glance, but especially watching them back to back, the first season is significantly more detailed and cinematic.

Personally I thought the choreography in the action for the first season was incredible as well, like one of the best in its genre, but I guess it was too labour intensive or expensive to keep up that level of detail and that level of animation all the time. And personally I'd rather they simplify the art and maintain focus on the things that matter, unlike things like One Punch Man season 2 which was just an insulting downgrade.

So gut check on One Piece Live Action?
When it was first announced I was expecting the worst, but the trailers & impressions seem fairly positive? Out tomorrow.

They sure are cramming a lot into 1 season though. Seems like 8 episodes going all the way past Arlong arc.

Also 2nd half of season 2 for Baki Hanma is up on Netflix.

New Jujutsu Kaisen arc tonight, I think! I really need to catch up as I've not watched the last few episodes yet!

Things I picked up since my last post.

• Appleseed - Based on an earlier work by the creator of Ghost in the Shell. Pretty good sci-fi movie.
• A Wind Named Amnesia - Another interesting sci-fi film. A young man & woman take a road trip across the US (being chased by a killer mech!) after a mysterious "wind" blew across the planet taking away humanity's knowledge returning us to stone age mentality.
• My First Girlfriend is a Gal - Pretty run of the mill harem show. Decent if you know what you're getting into.
• Re: Cutie Honey - A take on the classic fan-servicy "magical girl" series helmed by Hideaki Anno (Evangelion). Very crazy, but very fun.
• Very Private Lesson - Not pictured. Pretty average ecchi comedy from the late 90's. I get the feeling it was a 2 episode pilot for a TV series that never came out, so they released it as an OVA, as it doesn't really go anywhere.

The Devil May Cry anime that's been rumoured to be a thing for years is finally real and looks FANTASTIC

So I watched Gurren Lagann for the first time.

That was quite possibly the dumbest anime I think I've ever seen where all the mecha's have faces and run on "manly fighting spirit" (Or Spiral Power) with attack call outs and all that Shonen jazz... Ending up in space with mecha's so large they can throw Galaxies as bloody shruiken.

... And it was goddamn amazing. I loved every second

Special shout out to the score. I haven't usually noticed the music in an anime besides a killer opening/ending theme but Gurren Lagann had some great tracks throughout it... Including a piece that was opera mixed with some incredibly cheesy rap that... Somehow worked.

Also ... Viral is best boi

Did a little bit of catching up on Jujutsu Kaisen last night. I'm so far behind but slowly catching up. I just started the Premature Death arc and things are getting pretty interesting to say the least!

I still need to make a start on the new season of SPY x FAMILY too!

The latest Castlevania series is up to their usual high standard in my opinion. And I'm actually able to follow this and largely make sense of it all this time round! 😂

@JohnnyShoulder Is that the Netflix one? It's been on my watchlist for ages but I still haven't sat down to watch it yet. I really should because it's apparently very good!

@KAIRU It is! The latest is a spin off from the main series, which is the back story for one of the main characters.

The first season of the main series is very short, but the subsequent series have about 10 episodes each, so very bingable.

It is very violent and gory though, which I think is ace.