Maybe you know this but the movie is set before this season finale. They skipped two books. Also there are only two published books after this so is gong to be a while before a new season.
[TV] The What Anime Are You Watching Thread!
GasBandit
Staff member
"I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss"
Wait, wasn't there already a "Oh no I'm the villainess in my favorite video game! I have to do something to avoid an ending where I die!" anime?
Yes, of course there was.
But this one has something going for it that "My Next Life as a Villainess" didn't: The titular character is not a hopeless obliviot.
So it's already a bit better in my estimation.
Wait, wasn't there already a "Oh no I'm the villainess in my favorite video game! I have to do something to avoid an ending where I die!" anime?
Yes, of course there was.
But this one has something going for it that "My Next Life as a Villainess" didn't: The titular character is not a hopeless obliviot.
So it's already a bit better in my estimation.
GasBandit
Staff member
There's a show on Netflix called "Romantic Killer."
It's a reverse harem that deconstructs the genre by making the protagonist fight tooth and nail against the forces conspiring to hook her up with hot guys.
Basically she just wants to play video games, eat chocolate, and smoosh her cat. But some unknown force has employed a bizarre wizard-creature to compel her into romance for vague reasons somehow related to Japan's declining birthrate ... and the answer to this is forcing teen romance?? What, is she supposed to get pregnant and drop out? Is this really the big idea? It also can't decide on a tone. The early episodes are almost irritating in their high pitch screamy zaniness, and the later episodes are extra SRS BZNS in trying to go dark.
That said, I've seen worse. There's real character growth for all concerned and decent plot progression. It gets extra points for a female protagonist with agency, intelligence, and relatability. But the tone issues coupled with the mediocre localization and dialog mean I can't really give this one more than a C+.
It's a reverse harem that deconstructs the genre by making the protagonist fight tooth and nail against the forces conspiring to hook her up with hot guys.
Basically she just wants to play video games, eat chocolate, and smoosh her cat. But some unknown force has employed a bizarre wizard-creature to compel her into romance for vague reasons somehow related to Japan's declining birthrate ... and the answer to this is forcing teen romance?? What, is she supposed to get pregnant and drop out? Is this really the big idea? It also can't decide on a tone. The early episodes are almost irritating in their high pitch screamy zaniness, and the later episodes are extra SRS BZNS in trying to go dark.
That said, I've seen worse. There's real character growth for all concerned and decent plot progression. It gets extra points for a female protagonist with agency, intelligence, and relatability. But the tone issues coupled with the mediocre localization and dialog mean I can't really give this one more than a C+.
GasBandit
Staff member
Red hair just gets them in the door. I probably would not have checked out an unknown mid-grade netflix anime had it not had a redhead protagonist
GasBandit
Staff member
November 6th 2022 was canonically the day that Sword Art Online trapped its entire userbase in the game, holding their lives hostage until somebody beat the final boss.
(See also my related post in the Video Game Random Crap thread)
(See also my related post in the Video Game Random Crap thread)
GasBandit
Staff member
At random I started watching a Chinese anime on CR called "The Daily Life of the Immortal King." It's somewhere between My Hero Academia and One Punch Man, and the comic relief in it is WAY better than it has any right to be. Also every episode is a game of "Spot the reference to another popular anime" like looking for Orko hiding in a He Man background.
Aaaand then I got to the end of season one, which is where the english dub ends.
The subs are so bad. Not localized at all. All the translation is verbatim and suddenly no character has even the slightest drop of relatability. What was one of the better anime of the year is suddenly D-.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, wait for the dubbing to finish, then watch it. Season 1 alone will leave you aching for more, and it writes a check that the subbed version just can't cash.
Aaaand then I got to the end of season one, which is where the english dub ends.
The subs are so bad. Not localized at all. All the translation is verbatim and suddenly no character has even the slightest drop of relatability. What was one of the better anime of the year is suddenly D-.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, wait for the dubbing to finish, then watch it. Season 1 alone will leave you aching for more, and it writes a check that the subbed version just can't cash.
GasBandit
Staff member
Some taste?
I kid, I kid.
That aside, unfortunately Naruto is an Oeuvre unto itself. Naruto's been on the air longer than an "older teenager" would have been alive, and spans multiple series.
Were it me, and all I had to go on was "older teen naruto fan" I'd probably (assuming you want to steer away from things like actual kunai knives or shuriken) go with a jacket or hoodie bearing some of the show's symbology (though not perhaps a character) -
Mangekyo hoodies
Akatsuki jacket
Sharingan jacket
If you can find out if they have a favorite character in the series, you can probably get a PVC figurine of that character, though if it is one of the more popular ones it might get kinda pricey. A funko-pop might be a more affordable offering if you're not looking to break the bank.
I'll say that I've seen folks in those Akatsuki jackets, from random folk on the street to professional wrestlers who are anime fans.
GasBandit
Staff member
GasBandit
Staff member
The picture of what I ordered:
What I actually received -
Well, at $15 (plus more than that in shipping) I knew it'd be a cheap Chinese knockoff. So... caveat emptor and all that, even on Amazon.
After receiving it and googling around, the so-bin figurine this was trying to pass itself off as typically goes for over $300 - so yeah, at 1/10th the price after shipping, it's actually not horrendous. Good enough to go on the shelf anyway. I've paid more for worse.
What I actually received -
Well, at $15 (plus more than that in shipping) I knew it'd be a cheap Chinese knockoff. So... caveat emptor and all that, even on Amazon.
After receiving it and googling around, the so-bin figurine this was trying to pass itself off as typically goes for over $300 - so yeah, at 1/10th the price after shipping, it's actually not horrendous. Good enough to go on the shelf anyway. I've paid more for worse.
Kyattou Ninden Teyandee
Sweet Jesus, its rare for me to say an Americanized version of an anime is better but...to say its LEAGUES better is insane. The characters were so basic, the plots were just Super Sentai with a period theme, and for SOME reason every other scene some random side character would explain how something works for SOME reason despite no explanation being needed. Plus at the end of every ep they give some rando explanation onto how something works, EVEN Ms Missile's TEA shop...WHY?! JUST CUT TO THE CREDITS YOU DUMB BASTARDS!
And stop acting like Yatarou is the only one who could save the day, Pururun practically CARRIED the team.
Sweet Jesus, its rare for me to say an Americanized version of an anime is better but...to say its LEAGUES better is insane. The characters were so basic, the plots were just Super Sentai with a period theme, and for SOME reason every other scene some random side character would explain how something works for SOME reason despite no explanation being needed. Plus at the end of every ep they give some rando explanation onto how something works, EVEN Ms Missile's TEA shop...WHY?! JUST CUT TO THE CREDITS YOU DUMB BASTARDS!
And stop acting like Yatarou is the only one who could save the day, Pururun practically CARRIED the team.
GasBandit
Staff member
So, ok... Season 1 of the Urusei Yatsura remake has finished airing, and I watched the whole thing.
It's very faithful to the original. People who have fond memories of early-days Rumiko Takahashi IPs will probably love it, as it is the same thing, just updated to modern visual and audio quality standards while maintaining the consistent art style, characters, and story premise.
But while that may be its strength, it is also its weakness.
See, until VERY recently, Rumiko Takahashi properties' defining characteristic was that they did not have story developments. They had a premise, and every episode was an introduction of a new ingredient into that premise, and then documenting the situation's return to status quo.
That new ingredient most often takes the form of a new character.
Urusei Yatsura, like the RT stories that came after it (Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha) starts with a basic premise, a few characters, and then steadily builds the stable of characters until there are hundreds of characters, most of which never appeared for more than one episode. Probably the most egregious example of this that I can think of is the "Egg catcher man" from Ranma 1/2. The character's episode seemed to be attempting to kickstart a long-dormant romantic subplot between Dr. Tofu and Kasumi Tendo that literally never went anywhere. Instead, ECM arrived, performed several actions that - in a consistently written universe where actions beget consequences - should have shaken things up and effected immediate and lasting changes on the relationships in the story, and then disappeared at the end of the episode, never to be seen or mentioned again, nor have any of his actions ever acknowledged.
The series that followed R1/2 got a little better about this, but not by much, at least not until the late 20-teens when the series was resurrected with a new "end of Inuyasha" season to tie up loose ends... but UY predating R1/2 means that if anything, the Status-Quo-Is-God factor is even more absolute and immutable. No long term plot developments occur, no major conflicts are ever resolved, very little (if any) character development ever takes place. Literally every episode begins and ends with the plot in the exact same place it was at the end of the introductory/establishing story arc - just following how a new zany character shakes things up for 23 minutes before being resolved. Maybe the really memorable characters come back, but if they do, it will be to do the exact same (ineffectual) thing. But to be fair, many of the characters are REALLY interesting and novel - that's how RT kept getting away with this nonsense for 3 series over 30 years.
Rumiko Takahashi doesn't write stories, she writes the manga equivalent of Books of Knock Knock Jokes. They always start the same, and each never resolves anything other than to set us up for the next time the door knocks, which is immediately.
And as has so often been the case with Anime lately, the most catchy thing about the series has been its opening song, performed by the same artist who did the Domestic Girlfriend OP. She got some pipes on her.
So my verdict? Unless you're really looking for some fond nostalgia (and REALLY liked the original run of Urusei Yatsura), you are entirely safe skipping this one... because nobody gives literary blue balls like Rumiko Takahashi.
It's very faithful to the original. People who have fond memories of early-days Rumiko Takahashi IPs will probably love it, as it is the same thing, just updated to modern visual and audio quality standards while maintaining the consistent art style, characters, and story premise.
But while that may be its strength, it is also its weakness.
See, until VERY recently, Rumiko Takahashi properties' defining characteristic was that they did not have story developments. They had a premise, and every episode was an introduction of a new ingredient into that premise, and then documenting the situation's return to status quo.
That new ingredient most often takes the form of a new character.
Urusei Yatsura, like the RT stories that came after it (Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha) starts with a basic premise, a few characters, and then steadily builds the stable of characters until there are hundreds of characters, most of which never appeared for more than one episode. Probably the most egregious example of this that I can think of is the "Egg catcher man" from Ranma 1/2. The character's episode seemed to be attempting to kickstart a long-dormant romantic subplot between Dr. Tofu and Kasumi Tendo that literally never went anywhere. Instead, ECM arrived, performed several actions that - in a consistently written universe where actions beget consequences - should have shaken things up and effected immediate and lasting changes on the relationships in the story, and then disappeared at the end of the episode, never to be seen or mentioned again, nor have any of his actions ever acknowledged.
The series that followed R1/2 got a little better about this, but not by much, at least not until the late 20-teens when the series was resurrected with a new "end of Inuyasha" season to tie up loose ends... but UY predating R1/2 means that if anything, the Status-Quo-Is-God factor is even more absolute and immutable. No long term plot developments occur, no major conflicts are ever resolved, very little (if any) character development ever takes place. Literally every episode begins and ends with the plot in the exact same place it was at the end of the introductory/establishing story arc - just following how a new zany character shakes things up for 23 minutes before being resolved. Maybe the really memorable characters come back, but if they do, it will be to do the exact same (ineffectual) thing. But to be fair, many of the characters are REALLY interesting and novel - that's how RT kept getting away with this nonsense for 3 series over 30 years.
Rumiko Takahashi doesn't write stories, she writes the manga equivalent of Books of Knock Knock Jokes. They always start the same, and each never resolves anything other than to set us up for the next time the door knocks, which is immediately.
And as has so often been the case with Anime lately, the most catchy thing about the series has been its opening song, performed by the same artist who did the Domestic Girlfriend OP. She got some pipes on her.
So my verdict? Unless you're really looking for some fond nostalgia (and REALLY liked the original run of Urusei Yatsura), you are entirely safe skipping this one... because nobody gives literary blue balls like Rumiko Takahashi.
WELP-Kissanime clearly glitched out after ep 5 of Patlabor, GUESS I'm just gonna have to BUY IT....because dammit I hate that nonsense site.
Seriously, why is this gem not on any of the good streaming services?!
Seriously, why is this gem not on any of the good streaming services?!
US licensor is Sentai Filmworks, so HIDIVE is where it legally streams.
TV
To combat the illegal use of labors, the police use advanced patrol labor units known as Patlabors.
I haven't read the manga but I liked the first episode.