[TV] The What Anime Are You Watching Thread!

Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

GasBandit said:
I liked that one. For being an Overlord/Goblin Slayer "Me Too" series, it managed to stay fresh and interesting through the MC's boundless enthusiasm.
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I haven't actually watched much Isekai, so I'm not sick of the premise yet.

Buuuuut...I can see where the "I'm a regular Japanese dude transported somewhere and I'm way OP" getting old real fast. Nothing beats the social commentary of One Punch Man for "OP protagonist".
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Tinwhistler said:
I haven't actually watched much Isekai, so I'm not sick of the premise yet.

Buuuuut...I can see where the "I'm a regular Japanese dude transported somewhere and I'm way OP" getting old real fast. Nothing beats the social commentary of One Punch Man for "OP protagonist".
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Yeah, most Isekai is a thinly veiled power fantasy wrapped in a harem with a side of escapism. There's just been something about the concept that has really resonated in Japan for the last 15 years or so.

But there are some standouts. Overlord is definitely one, as is Re:Zero and Konosuba.

In the latter 2, the protagonists are VERY much not overpowered. In fact, the premise of Konosuba is basically "What if the isekai protagonist, instead of being OP, was a garbage human being with shit stats, saddled with the worst possible companions?" and played in a humorous light meant to deconstruct the isekai genre.

GATE is also a fun Isekai because it involves a protagonist who is "overpowered" in the other world because he is a soldier in a JDF "special military action" into the other world, so he gets to tool around in a humvee and call in airstrikes on the dragon and stuff.

There's also a genre called "reverse isekai," where a denizen of another world is brought to ours. They often make for humorous "fish out of water" stories, such as in Dead Mount Death Play, Cop Craft, and Ya Boy Kongming.

Other fun Isekai:
Kemono Michi: Rise Up! - A luchador gets isekai'd
Handyman Saito - A repairman gets isekai'd
Log Horizon - Sword Art Online but it doesn't start to suck after the first season
Mushoku Tensei - The title largely responsible for isekai as a genre catching on
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Saito sounds interesting. It sounds like something I might identify with.
...
You know, I wonder if anyone has expanded the TNG episode "Thine Own Self" into a full-on isekai? Hmm.

--Patrick
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
PatrThom said:
Saito sounds interesting. It sounds like something I might identify with.
...
You know, I wonder if anyone has expanded the TNG episode "Thine Own Self" into a full-on isekai? Hmm.

--Patrick
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Well, it's not new or isekai strictly speaking, but there was a Russian sci-fi novel in the 60s called "Hard to be a God" that had a lot of similar themes. It got made into a mediocre movie in 2013 and an even more mediocre RPG in 2007 that I tried to play and couldn't bring myself to continue with.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

Started "The undead unwanted adventurer", where a guy dies, comes back as the lowest level undead and has to work his way back up. Kind of refreshing over the "I can do anything!" OP of standard isekai. But....i can see it coming. "Even though I was only ever a low level adventurer, I am one of the few that can wield divine magic, spirit magic, and mana."..I see him ramping up to OP very quickly.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Tinwhistler said:
Started "The undead unwanted adventurer", where a guy dies, comes back as the lowest level undead and has to work his way back up. Kind of refreshing over the "I can do anything!" OP of standard isekai. But....i can see it coming. "Even though I was only ever a low level adventurer, I am one of the few that can wield divine magic, spirit magic, and mana."..I see him ramping up to OP very quickly.
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Yeah, you're not wrong. It's a decent timewaster, but there's better things to watch if you haven't seen all the good stuff yet. If you're looking for a "not overpowered" dungeons and dragons type (and it's even an isekai) try Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. A high school class gets isekai'd and told they have to save the world. But they don't get special powers or anything. Some of them die.

Also Dungeon Meshi would be a good D&D "not overpowered protagonists" show that I highly recommend.
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

GasBandit said:
Yeah, you're not wrong. It's a decent timewaster, but there's better things to watch if you haven't seen all the good stuff yet. If you're looking for a "not overpowered" dungeons and dragons type (and it's even an isekai) try Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. A high school class gets isekai'd and told they have to save the world. But they don't get special powers or anything. Some of them die.

Also Dungeon Meshi would be a good D&D "not overpowered protagonists" show that I highly recommend.
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grabbing Grimgar now :)

Making note of others in this thread for future perusal
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
Get my man here a calendar.
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I assume time is still linear where you're at right now, so their existence pretty much invalidates the premise in the title.

Sure, there might be more badly done characters then not, but that was a problem back then too, we just tend to remember the good ones and forget the bad (which is why Pam Anderson's 1996 Barb Wire didn't come to mind when i posted those pics, and i had to think about it a bit for the purpose of highlighting a bad 90's character).
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
@Li3n said:
I assume time is still linear where you're at right now, so their existence pretty much invalidates the premise in the title.

Sure, there might be more badly done characters then not, but that was a problem back then too, we just tend to remember the good ones and forget the bad (which is why Pam Anderson's 1996 Barb Wire didn't come to mind when i posted those pics, and i had to think about it a bit for the purpose of highlighting a bad 90's character).
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All the comparisons in the video to western properties are for IPs still in development with characters that are still getting written.

90s (and earlier) concluded series are an apples to oranges comparison.
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

Is Disney having a Rey show / film in the works ?

But also, if one accepts that Luke shooting small animals in the desert is justification enough to make him able to pilot an X-Wing to shoot at a hole in a well defended battle station, or that being good at pod racing can lead to accidentally destroying and entire invading army's control centre, it's kind of feels disingenuous to complain about any other character in said setting doing stuff too well.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
@Li3n said:
Is Disney having a Rey show / film in the works ?
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www.yahoo.com

All the New STAR WARS Movies Announced, Including Daisy Ridley’s Return as Rey

Lucasfilm announced three new Star Wars movies from James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Daisy Ridley's return as Rey.
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

But also, if one accepts that Luke shooting small animals in the desert is justification enough to make him able to pilot an X-Wing to shoot at a hole in a well defended battle station, or that being good at pod racing can lead to accidentally destroying and entire invading army's control centre, it's kind of feels disingenuous to complain about any other character in said setting doing stuff too well.
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The prequels were also garbage writing, which is what this video is talking about.

Any comparison between Rey and Luke is laughable. It's been argued to death constantly, and your invocation of it is just further proof you're not arguing in good faith - as if that were not already established by:
1) The fact that you think 2 or 3 handpicked counterexamples from 30+ years ago is enough to show that Hollywood makes great female protagonists wheras I could spend the rest of the week, every waking moment, showing examples of hollywood being unable to write compelling female leads
2) Frankly, your entire posting history
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

MindDetective said:
Yes.
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GasBandit said:
www.yahoo.com

All the New STAR WARS Movies Announced, Including Daisy Ridley’s Return as Rey

Lucasfilm announced three new Star Wars movies from James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Daisy Ridley's return as Rey.
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com
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Why ?

GasBandit said:
The prequels were also garbage writing, which is what this video is talking about.
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Haven't you heard, the prequels are good now, because memes, and the sequels are bad because woke.

Now who's in need of a calendar ?

GasBandit said:
Any comparison between Rey and Luke is laughable.
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TFA was literally a rehash of ANH... they even used another desert planet, because it would have been too subtle otherwise...

Hell, even TLJ starts the same as ESB, and just never moves past the chase.


GasBandit said:
It's been argued to death constantly, and your invocation of it is just further proof you're not arguing in good faith - as if that were not already established by:
1) The fact that you think 2 or 3 handpicked counterexamples from 30+ years ago is enough to show that Hollywood makes great female protagonists wheras I could spend the rest of the week, every waking moment, showing examples of hollywood being unable to write compelling female leads
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I mean, if we're going with that, anime is still full of panty shots and Sakura's.

Yeah, Hollywood mostly makes dreck, and always has. As do most industries. Comparing the better ones from one to the more mediocre ones of another is just simply a bad comparison. One might even say it's not being done in good faith.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
@Li3n said:
Why ?
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Because despite the sequels being utter garbage, TFA was still the 5th highest grossing movie of all time, unfortunately.

TFA was literally a rehash of ANH... they even used another desert planet, because it would have been too subtle otherwise...

Hell, even TLJ starts the same as ESB, and just never moves past the chase.
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Oh, no argument there. It was a beat-for-beat repeat of ANH in plot advancement. But this isn't about plot writing in general, it's about character writing in specific.

I mean, if we're going with that, anime is still full of panty shots and Sakura's.
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Which would be pertinent if the video I posted was "ANIME female protagonists work but western ones don't." But it wasn't. It was talking specifically about Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, itself being a standout example, compared to two prominent hollywood female protagonists in current media.

Yeah, Hollywood mostly makes dreck, and always has. As do most industries. Comparing the better ones from one to the more mediocre ones of another is just simply a bad comparison. One might even say it's not being done in good faith.
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Is there a currently in production hollywood IP that would be better to sub in?
 
@Li3n

@Li3n

GasBandit said:
Because despite the sequels being utter garbage, TFA was still the 5th highest grossing movie of all time, unfortunately.
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Then maybe Hollywood does get it, it being that money beats whatever argument anyone brings about bad character development.


GasBandit said:
Oh, no argument there. It was a beat-for-beat repeat of ANH in plot advancement. But this isn't about plot writing in general, it's about character writing in specific.
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Well, besides also having shades of Anakin's status as a slave and force savant, did she really have enough differences to count ?


Also, remember how everyone reacted to them having Luke fail and exile himself ? People want their fav characters to be Mary Sue's, and y'all know it.


GasBandit said:
Which would be pertinent if the video I posted was "ANIME female protagonists work but western ones don't." But it wasn't. It was talking specifically about Maomao from Apothecary Diaries, itself being a standout example, compared to two prominent hollywood female protagonists in current media.
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So it's just 1 work vs 2 other works...

Is 2 the magic number that would have made it represent it's whole hemisphere ? Or does that only applies to the part the sun sets in ? Because if we're not doing the sun thing i'm pretty sure Frieren qualifies (and i just realise they even have that Xena-Gabrielle vibe), so we can safely extrapolate to ALL ANIME, like the video is doing to the whole of western cinema.



GasBandit said:
Is there a currently in production hollywood IP that would be better to sub in?
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Damn, Fury Road was 10 whole years ago... then again, Furiosa was last year, and awesome (it even took me quite a while to realise that was indeed Thor), so close enough.

Also, everyone shut up about Wicked after it came out and did well, so i'm assuming the lead in that was also fine, and they're doing a 2nd part, right ?
 
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