What Are You Watching?

[Hime]

For time being, I've been watching:

-Gokukoku no Brynhildr
-Danganronpa
-Seraph of the End
-Clannad

My pacing for anime is a bit slow recently, so I couldn't catch up that much.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, just like how about a year and a half ago I forced myself to read through the rest of Naruto since I was already almost done with it, and this way I could say that I read the whole manga, I decided why not try and watch the two movies which have come out since the end of the manga, and which are both supposedly canon to the series, in the same way that the new DBZ movies are. I mostly just wanted to get the original Naruto series done with in regard to the first post-series movie, and see if the reboot/sequel, Boruto, was any good (which I heard that it surprisingly was, including from people who share my distaste for the series, like Cartoon X).

First I watched The Last, which is one of the most godawful, painfully boring experiences that I've ever had with an anime. It's basically a romance story, except with characters that are less interesting than sandpaper, and some of the most mundane action that I've ever seen in an anime film of this sort, even by the lofty standards of most movies based off of WSJ properties.

As for Boruto, I had previously read Masashi Kishimoto's 10-chapter mini-series from last year leading up to the film, which I noted was actually pretty decent given how shitty Kishimoto's writing had gotten for over a decade. It had the freshness of a new series, sort of like how Naurto itself was early on, and while it had its stupid parts, it was ultimately fairly entertaining for what it was.

So then I checked out Boruto, with low-to-mild expectations. Now, it may be because Naruto as a series managed to lower my expectations, and thus my threshold of judging something as quality, but this movie was great. It is hands down the best thing to come out of this entire mess of a franchise, by far, IMO. It wisely keeps the fan-service elements in the background, which enhances the experience for anyone who was a fan of the series, but at the same time tells a fresh new story that is accessible to any newcomers, and manages to successfully introduce a new cast of characters, while providing refreshing new takes on the cast of the original series. The manga became guilty of taking itself way too seriously, getting way up its own ass in pretentious drivel, and generally making its characters unintentionally come off as unlikable pricks, the most notorious of which was Sasuke. This movie actually managed to take a character like that and make me give a shit about him. Words can't describe how impressive that is considering how much I utterly detest that character in the main series. As you can imagine, it does well with the rest of the slightly less annoying characters from the old series as well. The plot, along with the villains, in and of themselves are nothing noteworthy, but neither are they the main focus of the movie. The story is actually more of a coming of age story for Boruto, and does a good job of establishing a shaky relationship between him and his father. Naruto himself comes off as a fully realized, three-dimensional character, as does Sasuke, and that manages to make this come off as a well above average movie by WSJ standards. In fact, its biggest strength is that it doesn't feel like a WSJ movie or property. It pays enough homage to the source material to be considered a part of the franchise, but aside from that it feels like its completely its own thing, with its own themes that it wants to get across. It excels precisely because it is more concerned with being a fun and entertaining movie first, rather than trying to please fans of the series and alienate everyone else with overly convoluted bull-shit strewn in to give off the false impression that its fans are actually watching something deep. In that regard, it feels genuinely inspired in a way similar to films like Kung-Fu Panda or How To Train Your Dragon.

And just to reiterate, I absolutely loathe post time-skip Naruto, and am not even a fan of the earlier stuff; the best thing that I can say about most of it was that it wasn't terrible, and certainly not as bad as the later material from the series. So for me to say something positive about anything even remotely relating to this franchise means that it must have probably done something right, and this movie certainly did. It's even to the point where I'm genuinely interested in checking out the sequel when it comes out, and I "might" actually try the manga as well, though I'm honestly not expecting much from either since I'm still convinced that this movie was somehow a fluke.

This does bring up another point, though. Just like how Marvel fans are getting a series of movies produced by the same company that runs the comics in the first place, and therefore have respect for and put effort into adapting their own source material, I kind of wish that, as a WSJ fan, we could get more genuinely good quality movies. I mean anime films with effort put into them, like this one, the two most recent DBZ movies, and some of the better One Piece movies such as Strong World. Unfortunately, 99% of these movies are uninspired cash-grabs, and generally turn out to be utter crap. A large part of this is because the movies that take place during a series are generally non-canon filler that feel largely inconsequential. Looking at the examples above, the only real possible solutions to this are either to set the events in an alternate Universe like the One Piece films that don't have to abide by the rules or continuity of the main series (but even then they still mostly just feel like filler), or make them canon, In-Universe stories that take place after the manga has ended, and only if it is well-suited to potential new content, like with DBZ and Naruto. I think the case of the latter in particular is pretty much the best option to get good films based on WSJ properties. What's more is that it makes business sense as well, since it would help keep some of their older and more popular series relevant and selling extremely well for several years after they have already finished their print runs. This, alongside their popular contemporary series, which don't really need to have films to boost their popularity, would be a genuinely good thing for Shueisha as a company. They would inevitably profit from the licensing rights to these movies in the first place, or if they could produce it themselves through a studio of their own funding, that could be even better.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I heard the second Gintama movie was actually pretty good (the first being an adaption of an already animated arc) since it was written by the author and had effort put into it. It was also a completely original story that hooked into themes from the series.

Most of these films are just extended episodes, though. That's nice for people who want more of said show, but not for those who want to see the series from a different angle than the page and TV screen.

I do wish, for instance, that they could use the films to tell bigger stories in the world established. How about an original JoJo movie adapting the story about George in WWII? Or maybe a Dragon Ball movie focused around Tenshinhan? How about a MHA film focused on one of the underused heroes like Kaminari, or a story about All Might as a kid? Heck, even leaving Jump behind for a second, how about one for Ushio & Tora focusing on the skipped arc from the manga?

Sometimes a movie that is just another adventure is good like Cagliostro or Knockin' On Heaven's Door, but they also have the advantage of having great writers.

Personally, I feel most anime movies that are adaptions could really stand to aim higher. Even the Trigun movie could have aimed higher had they actually got Kuroda back to write it instead of it just being an extended version of an episode.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

While setting a movie in the middle of a series could work, I feel like it'd be really hard to make it interesting if you as a fan and viewer already know how it would turn out. That said, yes, some stories of that nature havery worked in the past, such as Trust & Betrayal or the Bardock and Trunks specials (albeit they are not technically movies, but the concept is still the same).

[VLordGTZ]

I finished ERASED a few days ago.  I had some problems with it, but I still found it to be a very entertaining series that definitely showed Ito's strengths as a director.

I also caught up with Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju.  This show has exceeded my expectations and is easily the best show Studio Deen has made in years.  I really hope that it gets a second season since I'm interested in seeing Yotaro's storyline.

[gunswordfist]

I finished Erased about an hour ago. I had absolutely no clue it was ending.

Spoiler

I expected Yashiro to antagonize Satoru a bit longer with a few major character deaths, something about that flood from the OP and for Revival to be explained. Not that anything like that HAD to happen. I'm just basing my predictions on experiences from other anime or whatever.

[close]

Kind of bittersweet. I'll rank it in my favorites here in a little bit.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That flood from the opening theme IS in the anime:

Spoiler

It's symbolic of when Satoru gets submerged under water in the car.

[close]

[Spark Of Spirit]

Spoiler

The only thing I didn't like was that there weren't enough suspects. I didn't mind the Yashiro reveal, though.

On the other hand, the ending was excellent. Through all his effort he managed to save everyone. He even saved Yashiro at the end. I also liked the merging of both child Satoru and adult Satoru to sum up who he is now. Everything came full circle.

All in all, I thought it was an excellent anime. I'm sure some people probably hate the culprit being so obvious, but since that reveal comes three episodes before the end, it's obviously not the point of the show which is that everyone can be saved. You can see that time and time again throughout the show. Really, really enjoyed this one.

[close]

I think I'd probably list it in my favorites, too.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It wouldn't make my top 10 by any means, but it's definItaly one of my favorite series of the past few years.

[gunswordfist]

That flood from the opening theme IS in the anime:

Spoiler

It's symbolic of when Satoru gets submerged under water in the car.

[close]

Oh, right.

Spoiler

The only thing I didn't like was that there weren't enough suspects. I didn't mind the Yashiro reveal, though.

On the other hand, the ending was excellent. Through all his effort he managed to save everyone. He even saved Yashiro at the end. I also liked the merging of both child Satoru and adult Satoru to sum up who he is now. Everything came full circle.

All in all, I thought it was an excellent anime. I'm sure some people probably hate the culprit being so obvious, but since that reveal comes three episodes before the end, it's obviously not the point of the show which is that everyone can be saved. You can see that time and time again throughout the show. Really, really enjoyed this one.

[close]

I think I'd probably list it in my favorites, too.

Spoiler

Makes me want to rewatch the ending. 

They probably could have explored the list of suspects. I think it was like 20. I could be wrong. But either way, it was pretty much just between Yuuki, Kayo's mother and/or boyfriend and the teacher. Of course mystery fans love going after the "obvious not obvious" suspect first and the amount of extra hints made guessing it was Gaku even easier lol I was sitting there expecting the suspect to be some who didn't get so much screentime..but then got spoiled on twitter.

[close]

[VLordGTZ]

Netflix has licensed and dubbed Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman.

Now, that's something I never expected them to pick up. 

[LumRanmaYasha]

  Definitely planning to watch this when it our Netflix gets it. Hope it's good.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is getting a second season!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That's good to know. I'm still playing catch-up, myself, but while it's a slow burn at first, it really does get better and better with each episode. It's definitely the best of the Winter anime from this year, with ERASED following behind at a close second. I did try a few episodes of Konosuba, since I heard that it was a genuinely funny comedy, but it's definitely not my cup of tea from what I've seen of it.

[VLordGTZ]

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is getting a second season!

YES!!!!!!