What Are You Watching?

[Painted Outlaw]

Just on what I've been watching recently:
> Steins;Gate 0 was amazing. Well okay, it had a bit of the same flaws as the original (Aka, a strong start then flopping around for a few weeks before it picks back up) but when it did pick back up, it was a pretty fun ride to the finish and a nice companion piece to the original.

> Persona 5's anime? Urgh. I jumped off that junk after watching episode 16, it was so incompetently handled. The one reason I thought I could get through it, the characters, fell flat on its face because they weren't the same characters as much as hollow trope renditions. Take episode 16 for example, Futaba's intro: In the game, it starts out that the Palace is just a typical one where you beat up some villains until it begins unraveling that it's less that and more Futaba screaming for someone to wake her up. There are details tossed around between Futaba being in her room and texting the thieves and them seeing her Shadow in the Palace until you reach the end and everything comes together.

The anime take had none of that strength, hammering in "Look, she's a shut-in" to the point I felt bad for Aoi Yuki being in the studio with nothing to do. And the anime-original bit where Ann looked at the mural detailing what supposedly happened to Futaba's mother and started sobbing was awkward. Like, I guess they were referencing Shiho? I think? Maybe? but, they don't bring that up; she just starts sobbing and going all "I understand. Yes, they will pay!".

Both are getting OVAs in December but, while S;G0's is likely to be some fun character bit like the first season's OVA - I can't see it being a bigger deal, they wrapped up their loose ends - P5A is acting like Hank Hill and going "Yeah, ha-ha-ha, uh... you'll be back in December, right? We couldn't fit the whole game in 26 episodes". So, I'm clearly looking forward more to the former than the other.

[VLordGTZ]

While I haven't completely drifted away from new anime, I definitely feel less inclined to watch them.  The only shows I expected to keep up with in the fall are JJBA Part 5 and Karakuri Circus.  There are certainly other shows that interest me, but between my life becoming a lot busier in the past year, and wanting focus on other hobbies, it's hard for me to stay invested.

[Avaitor]

I'm still trying to finish the new Lupin and FMP runs, but despite liking both, I keep forgetting to. Megalobox was the last new series I really got behind.

I do want to get into some more older series, but I'm not sure where to start, or where to find the time. I'd like to see Ace o Nerae, for instance, but it's not on Crunchyroll/VRV and I don't feel like looking up other methods to see it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I forget, have you already watched the original run of Captain Harlock, Avaitor? That's pretty good, and it's definitely on CR. In general I want to watch more classic adaptations of works from Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, and various other mangaka veterans.

I also need to get around to other classic series that have been on my radar for years, like Nobody's Boy Remi, Future Boy Conan, Space Adventure Cobra, Urusei Yatsura, and too many others to name.

[Avaitor]

I forget, have you already watched the original run of Captain Harlock, Avaitor? That's pretty good, and it's definitely on CR.

Nah. I've been meaning to pick up Vertical's release of the manga, but keep forgetting/not affording to.

[Dr. Insomniac]

In regards to Matsumoto, I've always wanted to check out Galaxy Express 999. I wonder why no one in the anime or manga industry's tried to do a re-imagining of Matsumoto's work the same way Pluto reworked Astro Boy, or how the Netflix Devilman modernized and tightened up Go Nagai's series. I suppose that recent Space Battleship Yamato show's meant to be that, but still.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm pretty hyped for Karakuri Circus, but I guess that's obvious. Also, more Golden Kamuy despite the dumb CG that pops up in random episodes.

I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't watch any anime from last season, and I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to watch anything from this season that isn't a sequel to anything that I already have an investment in (so basically JoJo's and whatever else might be a continuation).

You didn't watch Golden Kamuy? That series looks pretty up your alley to me.

I'm kind of in the mood to go back and watch some classics from the 70's and 80's, some from the 90's as well, but I have almost no desire to watch any new modern shows and any time that I try any I can't seem to get into them, even when the anime community goes gaga over whichever titles are the most popular of their respective season.

Watch some old mecha like Armored Trooper Votoms or Panzer World Galient. They might be what you're looking for.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I actually did watch the first few episodes of Golden Kamuy and commented on it. The manga is really good but I was pretty disappointed with the anime, which felt like a soulless adaptation of the source material. It may be a 1:1 transition but it lacks any sense of clear tone or personality, IMO. So, I just decided to stick with the manga.

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look into both of those series.

[Dr. Insomniac]

It may be a 1:1 transition but it lacks any sense of clear tone or personality, IMO. So, I just decided to stick with the manga.

Yeah, that's a crossroads for manga to anime adaptations. While the Jojo's anime definitely has sense of tone and personality, I always found it interesting to compare how it handled the Jotaro vs DIO fight to how the 90s OVA fared. While the older adaptation took away much of Araki's humor and watered down much of the character design, it also had some very fluid animation and direction choices that I felt the recent anime's fight didn't do as well.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I think Pop Team Epic is the only anime from this year that I've watched. I kept up with Dragon Ball Super until it ended, and got back into watching the One Piece anime since it's gotten pretty good again, but I've kind of given up on watching seasonal anime. I just don't have time to watch a whole lot of stuff these days, and find that I get too burned out trying to watch most shows weekly as opposed to in chunks. Now that it's over, I'm trying to watch through MHA Season 3 when I'm doing the treadmill or elliptical at the gym in two or three episode batches, which works well for me. I do watch the stuff that airs on Toonami, but it helps that those shows are dubbed and are on a set schedule, and I can work on stuff while having it in the background.

Recently though, my show of choice has been Pokemon thanks to the Twitch marathon. I've been thoroughly enjoying revisiting the show since it really holds up, even better than I expected. I ended up catching most if not all the 300+ episodes they've shown so far, so it'll more than likely continue to dominate my tv-viewing time for the next couple of months. Gotta watch 'em all!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I think Pop Team Epic is the only anime from this year that I've watched.

No Megalobox, Lum? I figured that you would have at least checked that out due to also being a huge AnJ fan.

As for myself, I actually really liked the series, but found the climax to be a tad underwhelming. That said, as a tribute to AnJ, it worked quite well for me as a decent re-imagining of the classic. It's not an absolute favorite of mine, but it's probably one of my favorites from the last couple of years (though, in all fairness, I haven't watched too many modern anime to begin with).

[LumRanmaYasha]

No Megalobox, Lum? I figured that you would have at least checked that out due to also being a huge AnJ fan.

As for myself, I actually really liked the series, but found the climax to be a tad underwhelming. That said, as a tribute to AnJ, it worked quite well for me as a decent re-imagining of the classic. It's not an absolute favorite of mine, but it's probably one of my favorites from the last couple of years (though, in all fairness, I haven't watched too many modern anime to begin with).

I'd been planning to watch Megalobox, but it debuted in April during the crunch time of my last semester, and then I was focused on finding work in the months immediately after graduating, so I never ended up getting around to it. Now that I know it'll be on Toonami in a few months I'll probably just wait until then to watch it. I've heard nothing but great things about it which really excites me as an AnJ fan, so I'm looking forward to experiencing it!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

JoJo's was as good of a premiere as expected.

Hinomaru was alright. Better than I expected for Pierrot, but I'm not sure how long it will take them to screw it up royally. While it was done alright for what it was, nothing about it stands out enough as an adaptation that would make me recommend watching this version over just reading the manga. That said, I'll still be keeping up with it this season for now.

[Avaitor]

Really dug the Jojo premiere. Giovanna is an interesting protagonist so far, and I liked getting to see Koichi and Jotaru in the beginning.

But damn, that Bruno guy is creepy. Can't wait to see how that confrontation ends.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Very minor spoilers:

Ah, Bruno, a classic case of writing a character weird-as-fuck for his introduction and then completely characterizing him differently after that, as if his initial appearance never even happened. My guess would be that he was probably initially intended as a minor character before Araki realized that he wanted him to stick around for the long-term. He's actually a pretty major character in this arc and my personal favorite. I'd even argue that he's just as much of a main character as Giorno is, and is arguably an even bigger driving force in the story when it comes to the main conflict.