What Are You Watching?

[Dr. Insomniac]

All the Tri movies are free on YouTube for whatever reason.

[Avaitor]

I finally got around to watching Serial Experiments Lain, and I had a really good time. The feeling of finally getting around to a heralded classic in one of your favorite genres that you missed, like if you're a funk fan and somehow missed out on C'est Chic, can be daunting. Oftentimes, you're too far removed and it may come off as feeling trite compared to the favorites you've already devoured time and time again. But I guess that I missed the kind of existentialist anime that Lain belongs to enough that I had fun going through it.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Saw the first episodes of the new shows this season, and they're okay. Chainsaw Man's premiere was fine. Bleach's was fine. Gundam Witch from Mercury's was fine. It's been a while since there's been a first episode where I thought "Dude, I gotta find out what happens next!".

Also been rewatching some of the Kyoto Arc episodes of Kenshin. It's been really fun watching Shishio again after all this time, that sequences of fights between him and the cast is amazing, and it's still a huge shock that the anime abruptly ended after that season, and Watsuki went missing right after wrapping up the Jinchu arc in the manga. I can't imagine what could have happened. A few guys have told me there's a new Kenshin show coming out next year, but they're being crazy.

[Avaitor]

Chainsaw Man may be the first anime in ages where I think the hype is deserved, but that may just be me. I thought Spy x Family was cloy, Demon Slayer is still mid to me, and Jujutsu Kaisen just looks too trite for me to even bother with. I still like Ranking of Kings, but that's not nearly as popular as any of these from what I can tell.

[Mustang]

I started watching Bleach. 3 episodes in it was fine. Other than the bright colors, great animation and seeing the fast pacing (heh, imagine that. I remember the big 3 had terrible pacing) it's fine. I don't want to be too critical or anything, but considering the way people were going crazy over this I'm expecting these fights to be crazy good, but because I'm only 3 episodes in I'll hang back.

But that pacing though. Holy hell, I didn't expect that much to be covered in 3 episodes.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So the new Gundam's finale was rushed as shit. Genuinely felt like there was supposed to be at least another cour, especially since this show's been doing pretty well in Japan, and Gundams usually last 50 episodes, but no. Just an epilogue.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Saw a handful of premieres this season again, and...

Dark Gathering: I do not mean this as an insult, but I'm sure middle schoolers will really like this show.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, Now I Wander the Dungeon: The gimmick was really funny, but I don't know where else it can go after that.

My Happy Marriage: Beautiful, well-animated show let down by boring characters. I assume it'll pick up in the future though.

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses: I don't understand Studio Gohands. They can make some really good animation, but they have zero sense of cinematography. It's like watching a squirrel play with a state of the art camera.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades: This is just Harry Potter. And I don't even mean that in a generic magic high school sense. Ripoffs of Ron and Hermione appear, and they do that same thing from Sorcerer's Stone where the kids have to use a wind spell to stop a giant ogre.

Zom 100: Actually pretty fun. No complaints here.

Helck: I forgot most of what happened a few minutes after finishing it.

Ayaka: So, I don't understand why some shows get simuldubs and some don't, because I've seen zero buzz for this show yet Funi's still dubbing it as fast as they did for Chainsaw Man or Spy x Family.

Sweet Reincarnation: Another dub gripe, what stops them from using child actors more often? The kid here just sounds like Mikasa instead of a little boy. You'd think after FMA, Funi would've considered doing it more often. Especially now since Pro Tools means you don't have to worry about lipsynching, and most of these shows will only last a season so you don't have to be concerned over puberty breaking their voice.

Liar Liar: Boring Kakegurui.

Rurouni Kenshin: The show everyone's uncomfortable about while quietly telling themselves it's okay to watch as long as they pirate it. Show itself is fine even if the nostalgia part of my brain is mad the opening isn't Freckles or 1/2.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I mean, I'll watch RK on Crunchyroll with the logic that it's still the work of a bunch of hard-working and (probably) underpaid animators who have nothing to do with the author, and even if he is a scumbag I would be lying if I said it's not still one of my favorite manga when viewed as a story unto itself.

The sad fact is that there are a lot of pieces of art out there that are beloved which have either been created by or associated with awful people. For my purposes, I have just come to terms with the fact that sometimes good art is produced by bad people. I can't let that stop me from enjoying good art, but at the same time I won't actively try to support that artist unless it's a byproduct of supporting other artists, like legally streaming the anime (which, let's be honest, probably does jack shit for any of them anyways).

With that said, as for the reboot itself....it's a'ight. I prefer the 90's style aesthetic to the character designs and general animation, and the music was far better in that version as well, IMO. That said, I do still really want to see the final arc animated.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I remember watching a little of those RK live-action movies a while back, and their choices in adapting the Jinchu arc baffled me. Much can be explained as compressing what would've been 2 cours of show into a 2-hour movie like Yahiko becoming a background extra or Gein being cut out, but then they add Sojiro into the arc even though he wasn't there in the manga.

[Rynnec]

I like Terumi Nishii's character designs in the new RK, but the direction pales compared to the 90's anime. Feels like this'll end up the same as HxH 2011 where its main advantage is excising most of the early filler and (possibly) adapting a previously unanimated arc.

Speaking of new adaptations of classic manga: Bastard!! is this season's saving grace. Finally seeing the second arc in animation after all these years, with a top notch (Japanese) voice cast and OST,  feels so cathartic. Really love how it keeps up with the manga's tone and stays faithful to the 80s Heavy Metal aesthetic instead of "modernizing" the designs like so many remakes and new adaptations do. Here's hoping we get a Season 3 with a big boost in production values, given how crazy things will get.

Series really deserves a lot more buzz than it's getting, and I can't tell if that's because of Netflix's binge release format, or because modern anime influencers have really narrow tastes. I suppose the manga being in licensing limbo doesn't help matters either (or maybe Viz does still have the license and are just being stupid little shits about it?).

[Dr. Insomniac]

The sad fact is that there are a lot of pieces of art out there that are beloved which have either been created by or associated with awful people. For my purposes, I have just come to terms with the fact that sometimes good art is produced by bad people. I can't let that stop me from enjoying good art, but at the same time I won't actively try to support that artist unless it's a byproduct of supporting other artists, like legally streaming the anime (which, let's be honest, probably does jack shit for any of them anyways).

There's also the case of whenever a creator or really anybody turns out to be a piece of shit, as long as they're influential, they've got people rallying around them either in support or rationalizing that they've repented. For instance, that time over a dozen big mangaka collaborated to make a big celebratory wall for Watsuki. Or recently, that controversy over a bunch of abridgers not doing enough to cut Chris Niosi/Kirbopher out of their circle for being a sex pest, and how he's still dubbing anime, interviewing and hanging out with voice actors I like, and making projects where guys like Grant Kirkhope appear as if nothing happened. And that's another can of worms, whether the people around an awful person are complicit for pretending nothing bad occurred, or if it's just a case where they're trying to rationalize it to themselves with "But they apologized" or "They're a different person now" or "But they never did anything awful to me". That's a problem with every industry, hell, every group of people. Once in a while, we're all going to know a total piece of shit, but they had enough cool moments with us or shed enough crocodile tears that we can semi-justify to ourselves why we still hang out with that person instead of kicking them out. And it suck that it's not cut and dry, but society would be a significantly worse place if we all harshly judged everyone just because they willingly hung out with or worked with a bad individual. It'd be like if we shunned and excommunicated every director who signed that Polanski petition.

or because modern anime influencers have really narrow tastes.

It's like what I said in that other anime thread, feeling out of step with modern anime trends. Like I still can't wrap my head around anitubers, some of the same anitubers who made their living shitting on Sword Art for years, saying Mushoku Tensei is one of the best ongoing shows when from my experience it's the same garbage as anything else from the tired isekai genre. It's one thing when seeing a huge shonen show get huge and I don't get it, since my teenage years are long gone so of course I'm gonna look at shows aimed at teenagers and sense a disconnection, but then I feel out of touch when seeing the big seinen shows each season get a lot of hype, and I end up watching a bit of those and being unimpressed most of the time. It's why Cyberpunk Edgerunners was such a pleasant surprise, since what I was watching matched the attention for once.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Butareba: The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig - Disgusting premise where a talking pig wants to fuck a teenage girl, but is so unwilling to engage with anything that it's just 20 minutes of hollow dialogue.

The Family Circumstances of the Irregular Witch - Cute first episode, but watching Frieren right before made it pale in comparison.

Frieren - Actually pretty interested in how this will unfold. Glad they just threw extra episodes early.

Ragna Crimson - I can tell the author of the manga wrote so many Toshiro Hitsugaya fanfics back in the day.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You - Garbage. Funny to poke fun at though.

Migi & Dali - Really liked Sakamoto when it came out, so a work from the same creator (who tragically passed away recently) sounded right up my alley. But it's too weird, and I like weird, so that's saying something.

I'm in Love with the Villainess - Show reminded me a lot of RWBY. Interpret that how you will.

Protocol: Rain - They still have internet cafes?

16bit Sensation: Another Layer - A show that heavily hopes you are nostalgic for Jun Maeda VNs. Groan.

A Girl and Her Guard Dog - The show's awful animation was more offensive than the age-gap relationship.

Berserk of Gluttony - I hate these shows where even when it's not an isekai or a video game, characters still talk about leveling up and stats when it makes no sense in-universe.

Tearmoon Empire - I miss Rose of Versailles.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Under Ninja is fun.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I watched like half an episode of Solo Leveling before getting bored and watching something else. A new record in me being out of touch with the seasonal anime zeitgeist. Will probably try watching it with friends just to see if I'm just being contrarian or not.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I don't think you're being contrarian if you genuinely just didn't enjoy something.

I'm at the stage of my life where I don't care that much about conforming to what everyone else seems to like just because it's popular, so I won't pretend to like something if it doesn't suit me. That said, more often than not I just don't watch or comment on stuff that doesn't interest me, which is why I won't bother checking out something like Solo-Leveling.