Anime Watchlist

Animation
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Over the past couple of days I’ve finally gotten around to watching the anime adaptation of Vinland Saga. I should have been a prime target for that show as I am a big fan of the long-running manga by Makoto Yukimura (though not quite as much as Yukimura’s previous work Planetes), but for some reason or another I had put it off. I tried starting it before, but the beginning is a bit slow and perhaps that had part in it, though after a while it hits its stride.

Vinland Saga is set during the Viking age and the first season covers the years of 1002 to 1015, including fictionalized versions of actual historical figures such as Leif Eriksson, Thorfinn Karlsefni, Thorkell the Tall and Cnut the Great.

Thorfinn is a icelandic boy who looks up to warriors. His father Thors however warns that war should be avoided and a peaceful life is better, hoping to escape to the mythical Vinland across the ocean where no war can reach the. When Thors is called away, Thorfinn stows away on his boat, only to witness Thors being ambushed by a band of pirates, hired to assassinate him as Thors is a commander of the Jomsvikings who deserted fifteen years earlier. Thors is killed protecting Thorfinn, and Thorfinn blames himself and seeks revenge.

Thorfinn grows up while in the semi-employ of Askeladd, the captain of the pirates who promises to duel Thorfinn in exchange for good service on the battlefield. Thorfinn wants to kill Askeladd in an honorable duel rather than through the underhanded means that Askeladd killed Thors by. Over the course of this they are employed as mercenaries for the Danish conquest of England, with Askeladd having own designs and goals during it.

This series is is very good, with compelling characters and an interesting plot full of intrigue and clashing agendas. It also has very strong philosophical underpinnings, discussing such as human quest for love and the futility of revenge, though that is somewhat more strongly illustrated in chapters of the manga that aren’t in this season but probably going to be included in the second season, production of which has already begun.

It is also extremely brutal, with scenes of warfare that are rather over the top with the amount of decapitations and mutilations they bring about, so perhaps it isn’t everyones cup of tea. There are also a number of other horrible events being depicted, such as the pillaging and extermination of villages, and the abuse of slaves. If you are however able to take such scenes, I would rather recommend this series.

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593

This season I’m watching the third season of Karakai Jouzu Takagi-san (Teasing Master Takagi-san) and I’m actually trying to watch it without subtitles. It’s going pretty well though I had to cheat once with the 2nd episode of the season that aired yesterday, because I didn’t quite get the context of one line that was spoken with a rather soft intonation.

However, the actual reason I’m posting about is that they had two segments that could be understood without any language skills. Those two segments were done in the style of old silent movies or Tom & Jerry cartoons, with the actions of the characters on-screen being accompanied by orchestral instrumentation instead of sound effects. It was delightful.

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I don’t watch a ton of anime, but I have definitely found some shows & movies that I have enjoyed a lot and others less so. I saw this website posted on Reddit recently. For you encyclopedic anime watchers, I’m wondering what you think of the accuracy / relevancy of the networks shown here if I wanted to pick my next show to watch:

http://www.malmap.net/

The search function is on the pull-out on the left of the page

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This mapping is just grouping shows based on superficial characteristics like genre and aesthetic. For example, they’ve got Evangelion lumped in with robot shows and Madoka Magica with the magical girl shows. However, those shows have a lot more in common with each other than they do with other shows in their same genre.

Also, the quantity of shows in there is just really weak. Not only is it severely lacking in listings of older anime, but also has no movies whatsoever.

If you don’t watch a ton of anime, but do want to watch more, I suggest you start with the legendary works, most of which are movies. If it’s something you’ve heard of, and you haven’t seen it, then watch it. Akira, Ghost in the Shell, all of Satoshi Kon’s works, most of the Studio Ghibli catalog, etc. etc. If you run out of the legendary S-tier anime, and you still want more, then you might have a reason to go digging.

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That feeling when someone calls something I saw over twenty years ago “hidden.”

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598

It’s hidden now cause all the Anime fans of that time have reached their Otaku expiration date.

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599

TIL I have an Expiration Date and I passed it, apparently, a long time ago.

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Ok, what am I looking at here?

It has all the concepts of a “Cute girls doing cute things”, and even has a Guns shot of the drill, but the animation and general vibe of the show do not flag as a “Cute girls doing Cute things” vibe.

What am I missing?

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601

First time seeing anything of this show, but eh, looks very much like a CGDCT show. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing though, if the subject and characters are good and there is a high standard in the technical aspects. Yuru Camp is a good example of a show that isn’t much story-wise but works perfectly for what it tries to accomplish. Do It Yourself! seems like a perfectly nice, relaxing show.

The studio is the same that made Gamers! (a ridiculous love-dodecahedron rom-com that is actually funny) and Kageki Shoujo (which I haven’t seen but I heard is very good). Perhaps it’s the character design, which reminds me a lot of Sketchbook ~full colors~ which is my go-to “comfort food” anime. The characters are designed by Yusuke Matsuo, who is a former Kyoto Anime animator and the animation director for Yama No Susume, which is also a perfectly fine CGDCT show.

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Watched On-Gaku - Our Sound today, a wonderfully absurd little movie about misspent youth and the power of music. Was laughing a whole lot too.

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Ya Boy Kongming has the OP of the season.

If I wasn’t already sold on the trailer, this would do it.

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604

I am not here for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but I am EXTREMELY here for 3 kingdoms melodrama in a music “Rise to the top” type show.

Bonus points for everyone reacting to the suprise time traveler with “goddamn cosplayers”, as they would.

EDIT: I know we, rightfully, do not condone double posting but I did need to double back to post a correction. I’ve listened to chitty chitty bang bang too much for my previous claim to hold water. That was wrong of me, and I apologize.

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605

This season is really packed with good stuff. Besides continuation of shows I like (Kaguya-sama, Komi-san and Bookworm), there are a bunch of good new shows as well.

First and foremost is the long awaited adaptation of Spy x Family and it has been hitting all the right spots so far. If you are not aware, it’s about a Spy in “not-east-germany” trying to prevent a war and has to adopt a child and find a wife as cover. Great comedy and great action with some heartwarming undertones.

Then there is Shikimori is not Just a Cutie, a decent romantic comedy which I might drop at some point but has been decent.

The surprise show for me so far has been Birdie Wing - Golf Girls’ Story. This is not “Cute Girls Go Golfing” but a real sports show with some nice edge (and not edginess) to it. Think of it as “what if the crew from Black Lagoon went golfing”.

Finally, the above mentioned Paripi Koumei a.k.a. Ya Boy Kongming. This show is great. If you pick up a new show this season that isn’t SxF, it should be this one. It’s about a warlord from the Three Kingdoms being reborn in modern Tokyo and becoming the manager of a pop singer. Peak anime premise but great execution on it, fantastic music and madee mee laugh very hard on occasion.

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606

We watched the first two episodes of this knowing 0 things about the property and I am HERE FOR IT. I didn’t even know this was a setup I wanted in my life, but now I MUST HAVE IT ALL.

It’s been a while since Nuri and I have genuinely laughed out loud at a show. This was so fuckin good.

There is also a show - whose title I forget now - about a girl who gets hired as the assistant manager for an idol group whose class she’s in. It’s been cute so far but not much is really happening.

We watched a pile of episode 1’s of stuff that I mostly don’t remember. SxF is the standout by a mile.

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Yeah, and I even kind of undersold it by forgetting to mention the spy doesn’t know that the wife is secretly an assassin, and the daughter can read minds.

The show you were talking about is “Heroines Run the Show” which I meant to check out haven’t gotten around to it, so thanks for reminding me of it.

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So Ya Boy Kongming is really great. If I had do an elevator pitch on it. I would say it’s a reverse isekai. An Isekai typical has somebody from present time who died and are sent off to a fantasy world, video game or back in time. But in Kongming it’s a historical figure who died and is sent to modern time. And it’s not about them saving the world or whatever t’s about them being a manger for a singer. I only wish the music was on the level like something from Carole and Tuesday. That would make this series and A+ ranked show.

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609

Spy x Family is shaping up to be one of the best things I’ve seen in a long long time. It really has no business being this good. Anya might be the most believably-written child I’ve seen in anime ever, even if she’s a telepath. The show makes me laugh hard, and then does stuff like that scene in the school interview where Anya says “I love my parents and want to be with them forever.” SO HEARTWARMING. I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING.

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610

The thing is that this week’s episode was mostly filler. It expanded a single 25-page chapter into 20 minutes of animation which is usually a horrible idea due to issues with pacing. Yet, Cloverworks and A1-Pictures find the right way to cross that gap. Scenes like the quiz-show, the bouncy ball fight or the stairwell shootout don’t exist in the original, and they turn the latter two into extremely well animated action set-pieces when usually a production dials down the animation budget.

I usually thought a “good” adaptation would essentially use the manga as a storyboard and then layer the additional benefits of anime (e.g. color, animation, voice acting, music) on top. Most of the time anime I saw that diverged from the source to add non-story relevant scenes to pad out the runtime were awful. Spy x Family is not just doing an excellent job in taking advantage of the switch in medium from manga to anime in adding those elements, but goes beyond what usually good adaptations do.

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611

You mean it’s not a 1:1 copy of the manga? I’ll check out the anime for more hijinks to enjoy.

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