What Are You Watching?

[Painted Outlaw]

That moment when you consider that a seiyuu actually had to say this with a straight face...

[Dr. Insomniac]

So out of curiosity, I watched the finale of Naruto where he and Sasuke fight an alien. And... what? I've never held Naruto in any regard whatsoever, and I knew about how stupid Madara's powers were or Itachi being a good guy all along despite no foreshadowing to that at all, but this was just a new level of incredulity. Why is Naruto so willing to forgive Tobi and think he's a cool guy even though he killed his parents and caused years of havoc just because his girlfriend died? Why does Tobi even get a hero's death despite all that he's done in his life? Why did Sasuke decide to turn heel at the last second just so the series could have an excuse to end with a Naruto vs Sasuke fight? Why is Sakura so stupid that she's still in love with Sasuke after the man has abandoned and backstabbed her multiple times just to fulfill his convoluted agenda?

[LumRanmaYasha]

So out of curiosity, I watched the finale of Naruto where he and Sasuke fight an alien. And... what? I've never held Naruto in any regard whatsoever, and I knew about how stupid Madara's powers were or Itachi being a good guy all along despite no foreshadowing to that at all, but this was just a new level of incredulity. Why is Naruto so willing to forgive Tobi and think he's a cool guy even though he killed his parents and caused years of havoc just because his girlfriend died? Why does Tobi even get a hero's death despite all that he's done in his life? Why did Sasuke decide to turn heel at the last second just so the series could have an excuse to end with a Naruto vs Sasuke fight? Why is Sakura so stupid that she's still in love with Sasuke after the man has abandoned and backstabbed her multiple times just to fulfill his convoluted agenda?

There are two consistent rules in Naruto: Everybody who has a remotely tragic backstory is forgiven, and Sasuke can do no wrong because everybody wants to suck his dick (even the people who want to kill him).

[gunswordfist]

Been rerunning through Black Lagoon. Love how many great female characters this show has!

[Mustang]

So I did end up going for DBZKai and I'm currently on the fight between Goku and Frieza. I will say that the dialogue is a lot better than the original (except the saiyan saga. Ocean dub > all), however, a lot of the moments that impacted me the most has lost its luster hence why I like the Faulconer version more (and while I've never seen DBZ in japanese, I won't say the score is bad, I just don't care for it). Also, there's a lot more screaming in unnecessary moments as well. Don't get me wrong, it fits, but I'm not sure that I like that.

Minor nitpicks aside it has been a rather enjoyable trip down memory lane.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I've been watching some VOTOMs. Classic.

[Lord Dalek]

So I watched Magical Girl Site...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just checked out the first episode of Megalobox. As a huge Ashita no Joe fan, this anime is pretty lit, guys. It touches on all of the hallmarks and staples at the core of the old series while still being entirely its own thing. My only gripe so far is that this show's stand-in character for Danpei is pretty much an ass-hole without any redeeming qualities. I imagine that's intentional, though, and he'll probably have an arc to develop into his trainer persona over the course of the series.

[Painted Outlaw]

Watched the first episode of Persona 5's anime last night, I was content. I liked how they tried to get as many of the Japanese VAs from the game back as they could - from the main cast and Akechi to Sojiro to Principal and Kawakami and so on and so forth. Unfortunately, they can't get everyone since Chihaya's Miyu Matsuki and Kaneshiro's Kazunari Tanaka passed away but they still tried putting their best foot forward.

Pacing-wise, it didn't feel "insanely rushed" like I was reading; more streamlined as they wanted the plot beats without stuff like Akir-- sorry, Ren run around the subway for 30 minutes. I can gel with that though I do hope they slow down a little eventually. They don't need all the Palaces cleared by like episode 11. Then what would they do?

As I said on twitter though, one part that made me side-eye was Kawakami dropping one of her maid flyers. I got the reference but via her Social Link, she always struck me as more careful than that; making Re-- sorry, Akira call her on a pay phone with no ID and only coming over when no one was around. I guess the staff thought no one would care and moreso go "My waifuuu~~" but that didn't mean they needed to flub the character to do so. It'll also seem kinda wasted effort if there is no episode down the line focusing on the Confidants...

[VLordGTZ]

Just checked out the first episode of Megalobox. As a huge Ashita no Joe fan, this anime is pretty lit, guys. It touches on all of the hallmarks and staples at the core of the old series while still being entirely its own thing. My only gripe so far is that this show's stand-in character for Danpei is pretty much an ass-hole without any redeeming qualities. I imagine that's intentional, though, and he'll probably have an arc to develop into his trainer persona over the course of the series.

Yeah, I also enjoyed it a lot! I'm happy to see that it's getting a good amount of positive reception, even from those who have never touched Joe before.  Hopefully, it will keep up the quality in the coming episodes.

Speaking of Joe, I picked up Discotek's release of the AnJ movie.  It had to inevitably cut a lot of material from the TV anime/manga in order to get down to the 2.5 hour run time (including a number of Yoko scenes), but overall I enjoyed it quite a bit.  I do hope it does well enough to warrant Discotek to release more Joe, as well as get more people into the series.

Aside from that I've been watching quite a few other shows from the spring season:

Spoiler

Tokyo Ghoul: re - Pierrot STILL can't adapt this series properly.  They adapted over half a volume in the first episode, and it's a nonsensical mess to anyone who hasn't read the manga.  You'd think they'd want to drag a money maker like TG out instead of rushing the hell out of it.....

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The New Thesis - I decided to watch this in parallel to the old anime.  I thought the first episode was handled pretty well, especially from a production standpoint.  It seems like it's going to be adapted Yamato 2199-style, where each episode corresponds roughly to the same one in the original series, so it will be interesting to compare how the new anime handles the material.

Captain Tsubasa - ANIME IS SAVED!  This is a PERFECT adaption of the manga, and David Productions has put a ton of heart into it.  It's a real shame that Viz hasn't worked out the simulcast issues for it yet, because it really needs more love.

Gundam Build Divers -  I liked the previous two Gundam Build anime, and this one is no exception.  The first episode wasn't mind-blowing or anything, but it was still quite fun, which is mainly what I'm looking for from this series.

Lupin III: Part V - I'm ecstatic to have Lupin back!  I was a bit concern that the technology implementation this season would feel awkward, but based on the first episode, it feels quite natural and unforced into the Lupin world.  This is looking to be just as fun as Part IV!

SAO Alternative: GGO - I'm really only watching this because the original LNs are written by Keichi Sigsawa, who unlike Kawahara, I actually respect as a writer.  The first episode was basically just a battle, but it was way better then the first ep of SAO Season 2, so that's a good sign.  In any case, based on what I know of the story and characters, I'm fairly optimistic about this series.

[close]

There's still a number of series I either still need to watch or wait to come out from this season, so I'm not sure how many I'll end up keeping up with.  Really, this season is crazy packed! 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Still have to get around to watching a bunch. I'm disappointed to hear they went with a CG bear in Golden Kamuy. Studios really need to stop cramming that crap in everything.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I don't understand why it's a CG bear. Based on how it's modeled and textured, a bear with regular animation would have been cheaper.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Not going to lie, Golden Kamuy disappointed the hell out of me. It's an utterly soulless adaptation of an excellent manga with all of its exposition but none of its heart or personality. The direction is mediocre, the soundtrack is forgettable, and the CG is atrocious. The traditionally animated portion of it is quite well done, as is the voice-acting, but seriously, compare this first episode to the corresponding material in the manga and it's clear which version has more drive and energy behind it. Gotta love how a character as charming and memorable as Asirpa kind of "just appears" without any sort weight or importance to her introduction.

On a brighter note, Captain Tsubasa is an absolute delight.

[Avaitor]

There's a lot of stuff that I want to check out, but I don't have the time to catch what I already have on my schedule. But at least now I know that I can skip Golden Kamuy.

[Dr. Insomniac]

My thoughts on the latest Franxx episode summarized in one picture.