Media Anime and Manga Thread MK3 - Beware Spoilers

[bdt2002]

This will probably be the last post I make today on any of these threads. Or at least the last one before dinner. Knowing me I'll be back here in less than a half hour.

So why am I here all of a sudden, you may ask? Excellent question. Until college, I never thought much of anime or manga. A few of my high school friends were into it, but it was little more to them than a time killing hobby. For most of my life up to this point I had convinced myself that people only followed anime and/or manga because they were both popular topics that shared some sort of connection I didn't quite understand. In other words, it was a case of people hopping onto popular trends, something that I wasn't much of a fan of.

This changed significantly when I met my roommate(s) when I moved to college last year, however. The one I share a room with has been a huge fan of Japanese culture for quite some time now, and it also happened to be the case that me and him both had an interest in creative writing. Fast forward to the present day, and I can name multiple popular anime he's introduced me to watching, along the lines of Death Note, Demon Slayer, Akame Ga Kill, and Hellsing (the "Ultimate" version to be specific, I have no clue what the difference is), just to name a few of them. The jury's still out on me buying and starting a manga collection, but that's more so because I'm not allowed to drive on my own yet and the only good book/manga stores aren't that close by my school anyway.

Now that I've started to grow my interest in writing in other ways, and that I've become much more open to branching out into new interests as my old ones start to die out, I can finally understand the appeal of this neat little community of yours. I wasn't just going to watch and read popular stuff, though. As luck would have it, one of, if not my biggest interest period is the topic of neurodiversity. I've talked about my autism diagnosis and other details in different threads, but for the sake of this particular thread, it's probably best if I just cut to the chase.

Provided I most likely won't look into any of this until after exam week (next week) is over so I can study, this post marks the start of my search for recommendations of anime and/or manga (preferably anime if possible, remember what I said about book stores). This is the first time I've taken this "recommendation approach" of mine for something that isn't video games, now that I think about it. I'm specifically looking for anything that has as many of the following as possible. The more of these that are checked off, the better. Thank you very much for your help in advance, and maybe, just maybe, you guys will see me around here more often :)

1. Something with added emphasis on characters and neurodiversity/autism, whether it be main or side character(s)
2. Something that isn't exactly... well, inappropriate (this one's kinda important, I'd likely be watching this stuff at home where my family lives)
3. Something with a story I can relate to or learn from (Example: I really like and can sympathize with a specific character)
4. Something with good music, settings, etc. (The finer details are what separate the good from the greats)
5. This one's optional, but something I could share with my roommate(s) never hurts

Any genre is fine so long as (as many of) these details as possible and especially #2 is met. Thanks again for your help :)

Do yourselves a favor before reading this post. Only bother with going through and reading all of my previous one if you absolutely feel like it, because it’s way too long and perhaps a little too in-depth. Normally I wouldn’t link that post here at all, but I’m doing it anyway because I need to re-use that list I made.

So now onto my actual post. It’s winter break now, and I forgot how much free time I was going to have on nights like this. I’ve been telling my friends I wanted to start and/or catch up on some more shows just to have some more variety in my lineup, as well as for potential free writing inspiration. I’ve been home for about a week now, and I haven’t been able to decide what to watch. Soooo… I’m going to see if I can ask you guys for any recommendations instead. As mentioned above, I’d be interested in checking out shows with any of the following, provided #1 is honestly more of a personal preference

1. Something with added emphasis on characters and neurodiversity/autism, whether it be main or side character(s)
2. Something that isn't exactly... well, inappropriate (this one's kinda important, I'd likely be watching this stuff at home where my family lives)
3. Something with a story I can try and relate to or learn from
4. Something with good music, settings, etc. (The finer details are what separate the good from the greats)
5. This one's optional, but something I could share with my roommate(s) never hurts

Thanks for your help in advance, per usual. I apologize if this creates any confusion, too.

 

[Posho]

Violet Evergarden

 

[QuickBH]

1. Something with added emphasis on characters and neurodiversity/autism, whether it be main or side character(s)
2. Something that isn't exactly... well, inappropriate (this one's kinda important, I'd likely be watching this stuff at home where my family lives)
3. Something with a story I can try and relate to or learn from
4. Something with good music, settings, etc. (The finer details are what separate the good from the greats)
5. This one's optional, but something I could share with my roommate(s) never hurts

Zeta Gundam.

 

[Posho]

Bleach, Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho 100, all gone, reduce to athoms and I'm sadge.

July is looking like the craziest month thus far with Bleach and Jujutsu Kaisen. Demon Slayer in April and somewhere in 2023 we should get the last Attack on Titan season. And for the One Piece fans, we're in for an incredible ride with the chapters that are going to be adapted this year.

 

[Local Dog]

July is looking like the craziest month thus far with Bleach and Jujutsu Kaisen. Demon Slayer in April and somewhere in 2023 we should get the last Attack on Titan season. And for the One Piece fans, we're in for an incredible ride with the chapters that are going to be adapted this year.

Really wonder how they'll do the last AoT season. There's like 9 chapters left to adapt and I doubt they can keep up the pacing of the second part of final season if they're adapting these chapters closely

Don't know if I'll watch it if they adapt these chapters directly. Really despised these last 8 chapters and couldn't believe how shit the ending was. Still hope for an anime-only ending but I doubt that will happen frankly

 

[Fishin]

Bleach, Chainsaw Man, Mob Psycho 100, all gone, reduce to athoms and I'm sadge.

Yeah, next season is gonna have a hard act to follow. I looked at the chart and don't see anything I'm really confident about being good.

Though I like how we went straight from Spy x Family to the gay version

 

[Surgo]

Winter 2023 is a great season if you like comedy. On the new front, there's Tomo-chan. On the sequel front, there's Bofuru season 2 and Misfit of Demon King Academy season 2. On the continuing front, Eminence in the Shadow is still running. That's four solid comedy series.

 

[Rugi]

It's still airing but the hidden good show of the season is "Maiko san chi no makanai" which is just about a bunch of cute geishas-in-training talking about cooking food and geisha culture which is honestly what half of my real conversations are like so yeah maybe this one just appeals to me but watch it anyway because Kiyo is a very good chef and she is my child and she does a very good job!!
View attachment 355095

Hi Netflix has made a live action remake of this show and are advertising the crap out of it.
A bunch of mainstream media is now talking about how amazing it is so I'd like to say that "I told you so" and to go watch the anime instead

 

[Rugi]

ANIME 2023 (Stop making isekais):
Isekais:
Isekai nonbiri nouka: Bad. Don't watch.

Benriya Saitou: It starts off as a bunch of silly shorts of a handyman in a weirdly realistic isekai and then gets too serious for its own good

Rougo ni sonaete isekai de (etc): Sick of these long titles. This show puts on the veneer of being your average isekai but quickly reveals its gimmick that the protagonist can warp back into the real world whenever she wants. You'd think this would strip the story of all narrative tension and it kinda does but it makes up for it by slowly revealing just how fucking insane the protagonist is willing to be with her new found powers. Watch her take firearms that she illegally bought in South America into a fantasy world for profit and other funny shenanigans. It is by no means good, but the 'lol hahah what the fuck?' factor makes it a fun watch with friends.

Tondemo skill de meshi (etc): Isekaid Japanese guy cooks mediocre Japanese food and uses this to befriend god. Exceedingly stupid even for isekai standards. It's fine I guess.


OTHER ANIME:

Hyouken: Spiritually an isekai despite having nothing to do with isekais. Mysterious legendary magical warrior now goes to a normal school for normal magical people. The plot of this show is irrelevant what matters is that it looks like it was animated with a budget of bathroom lint and happy meals. The dialogue and voice acting is also awful. It's always bad, but sometimes it's so bad that it's good and there is a twintailed tsundere that spends all her on-screen time talking about insects so it's actually a pretty good show.

Vinland S2: This season is technically watchable without having watched the 1st season but Vinland Saga S1 is peak fiction so you should go watch it anyway. S2 is shaping up to be a bit weaker. However, a bit weaker than one of the best anime of recent times still makes it amazing. If you're even slightly interested in Viking history or historical fiction suffer porn this is the show for you.

Koori zokusei danshi: Literally the blandest romance anime I have ever watched. An ordinary girl falls in love with the guy at her company who happens to have ice powers. They both act like lobotomised ten year olds yet the show is so quiet and the character interactions are so boring that there isn't even any humour to be had. The whole ice powers thing is irrelevant and never goes anywhere. Bad show.

Oniichan wa oshimai!: Weirdo shit. If you've always dreamed of being a transgender middle schooler and want to watch a show with copious amounts of very questionable fan service and awful humour, this is for you. Hourou musuko did this concept better just watch that instead.

Ayakashi triangle: Weirdo shit. If you've always dreamed of being a transgender middle schooler and want to watch a show with copious amounts of very questionable fan service and awful humour, this is for you. Ranma did this concept better like 100 years ago just watch that instead.

Inu ni Nattara Suki na Hito ni Hirowareta: Weirdo shit. If you've always dreamed of being a dog etc etc. Don't watch this one. Please.

New trigun: It's fine. The animation is really good but it's just a generic action show and is missing the soul of the original.

Buddy Daddies!: Yeah yeah gay spyxfamily we've all heard. Give this one a go. I've always thought the child-rearing part of SpyXFamily was pretty weak since Anya is by no means a normal kid and her parents are both hyper-competent. Though the story and moment to moment humour is worse, there is something to be said about Buddy Daddies' dynamic of having two idiot assassins take care of a 4 year old girl who is a realistic 4 year old (a dumbass and unwitting actor of Chaos). Miri is a good girl and everyone calling her annoying has clearly never worked with kids before.

MOU IPPON!: The good show of the season. It's just a generic sports anime about a bunch of girls reforming their high school judo club. However this show is very close to my heart. I was in a judo club in highschool and I went to contests and everything. Seeing judo depicted so lovingly and realistically in an anime really hits all sorts of nostalgia. I know it's a niche recommendation but if you ever did judo or other martial arts growing up, this is a must-watch.

 

[Voltage]

Chapter 1 of JoJoLands goes hard, excellent way to kick of the new part

 

[Morkal]

The Code/Eida arc is finally getting adapted in the Boruto anime, and I am STOKED; Boruto succeeds the best when it hones in on the cyborg/multidimensional diety/sci-fi aspects of its story over the more traditional ninja aspects

 

[Local Dog]

Chapter 1 of JoJoLands goes hard, excellent way to kick of the new part

I just read it, cool premise. Albeit I am really not a fan of the song that the main character's stand references. I know it doesn't sound like a big thing but going from some of the greatest songs ever made to... Fucking Guns 'n Roses... I don't know. That's genuinely the only thing I can criticize though. Very nice start. Seems very lighthearted, but so was Jojolion

Also, after Araki tried to make us Jojo fans gay through big muscular man, he absolutely made huge fucking strides with Dragona

 

[Local Dog]

So I just finished Jojolion (yeah I read Jojolands chapter 1 before finishing part 8, sue me), I have to say, that part was kinda... bad

Spoilers for all of part 8

The stand battles were pretty good for the most part, but I think there was a huge overfocus on the battles with a very distinct lack of character moments and actual development. We see very little of some members of the main cast, Daiya, Hato, Kei, even Joshu and Jobin to a degree, who both lack some critical character development moments, especially Jobin's lack of confrontation with Josuke after the beetle fight is disappointing. Kaato being very important in the ending but getting very little screentime before that doesn't help. Even Norisuke was kinda neglected after the I am a rock arc. Josuke, Yasuho, Tsurigi and Rai are well written, but compared to the very large cast of part 7, where everyone got fantastic character moments, this was just disappointing

The rock humans as antagonists are also so one note. I don't like it in general when a whole fictional race is depicted as evil. If there was some rock human ally of sorts, that would've cool, but all we got were a bunch of asshats. The first wave of them had somewhat good motivations, with Yotsuyu wanting to proof his superiority, Aisho acting out of loyalty after having been betrayed by a human and Damo being interested in money after spending his life in a society that values money so highly, despite him having no real need for it. But the later guys? I think they still wanted to show their superiority and feel insecure due to them being a fallback plan for carbon-based life, but having like 5 characters that all share this pretty weak motivation? The connection between this and them wanting the Locacaca is also not really strongly established

Imagine if Tooru wanted to use the Locacaca to both present himself as a successful person after his former ideas were always rejected and by bridging a gap between carbon and silicon-based life. We saw the Locacaca made people become part rock. The fact that he didn't kill Yasuho despite this being in the nature of rock humans could've alluded to this. His philosophy of dreams and memories would've aligned really nicely. After having villains with amazing motivations like Kira, Pucci and Valentine, this is just weak

Wonder of U is also such a cool stand but the final battle with it is really anticlimatic. Josuke asspulls a new ability, doesn't even directly encounter the main villain or have any kind of meaningful interaction with him. He just shot him twice over a long distance and that's it. The ambulance scene just felt like a way to have a last moment solution for Josuke not encountering Tooru directly after he was revealed as the main villain. It's also pretty a pretty bad scene. Similarly, my above mentioned point of Jobin never fighting Josuke directly: his death was so dumb. Fully anticlimatic and he felt somewhat unnecessary in the end. Despite him being a beloved character, he really didn't have that much of a distinct impact on the story or the ending. He really could've been anyone, all he did was do some supporting villain shit and steal the grafted branch

The art also deteriorated pretty badly in the last third. Some panels look great but compared to earlier Jojolion and especially SBR, the consistency just isn't there

Finally, it's all so disconnected. I know that Araki's intention for part 4 was to not have a fully connected story and just have fun adventures in Morioh, which is what he wanted to actually do in part 8, but part 4 had a theme of community and the good heart of a small town, whilst part 8's theme was something about following the flow or something? It doesn't have anything to it that part 4 did well. We don't see any minor characters returning and it barely even feels like we're in the same location throughout the part

Honestly just a huge letdown. I enjoyed it at parts but as a whole... Probably my least-favorite part, even if it does a lot of things objectively better than the first three parts. Maybe it will grow on me, I didn't like part 5 at first too, but I kinda doubt it

 

[Local Dog]

Triple post, woooh

I changed most of my opinion on Jojolion. It's hard to explain but as I let it sink in further, the themes of flow, family, human connection and the entire development of Josuke with how he's opposed to Rock Humans have really grown on me. If I was to reread it, I would probably enjoy it throughout. I hope part 9 will cover some of the loose threads of Jojolion. I would put it somewhere in the middle in my ranking of Jojo parts

 

[Rugi]

MOU IPPON!: The good show of the season. It's just a generic sports anime about a bunch of girls reforming their high school judo club. However this show is very close to my heart. I was in a judo club in highschool and I went to contests and everything. Seeing judo depicted so lovingly and realistically in an anime really hits all sorts of nostalgia. I know it's a niche recommendation but if you ever did judo or other martial arts growing up, this is a must-watch.



View attachment 491128

I know I said it's the best show of the season but I still undersold it. The fight scenes these past few episodes have been insane with twists and turns and fantastic direction I would never expect from a fairly realistic slice of lifey judo anime. This show is gonna stick with me for a long time

 

[awyp]

I watched this anime film yesterday with my girl and friends "Suzume" which was produced by CoMix Wave Films, I honestly really liked it and would recommend it. The animation was breath taking I would say the storyline was a little lackluster but I enjoyed the movie for sure. Not going to spoil anything but it was about a Chair that would walk around and a sick cat who loved to fuck shit up.

 

[1LDK]

Alright people, what's your favorite "the elitist say this is trash, but I love it" anime
to me, it's Bofuri, it's super light, friendly and easy to watch, and everyone is fun

 

[Chico the Parakeet]

Should I stay into Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? I’ve really been falling off ever since Gold Wind.

 

[1LDK]

Should I stay into Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? I’ve really been falling off ever since Gold Wind.

yes, part 6 is regarded as many as the worst jojo, but part 7 is regarded by almost everyone as the best jojo, and its gonna be worth it man, keep holding

 

[Local Dog]

Should I stay into Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? I’ve really been falling off ever since Gold Wind.

As 1LDK said, part 6 is often considered to be subpar, but I and many others really love it. It's my second favorite, just behind SBR. For many people, the battles are too bizarre, but if you dig these kinds of fights in Jojo, you'll prolly like Stone Ocean a lot

 

[Rugi]

Alright people, what's your favorite "the elitist say this is trash, but I love it" anime
to me, it's Bofuri, it's super light, friendly and easy to watch, and everyone is fun

Two ways of interpreting 'trash'
Whether the anime is trashy (Dumb subject matter, very fanservicy) or an anime that is generally regarded as being bad. So I'll give an answer for both

TRASHY ANIME:

Keijo!!!!!!! is the kind of anime that I imagine a lot of people have seen random pictures and memes of but that few people have actually watched due to still having a sense of dignity. In this anime 'keijo' is the most serious sport ever created. You have to either knock your opponent off a platform into the water or beat them into submission. However only your breasts or ass are allowed to touch the opponent.

Kaijo!!!!!!! in spite of its premise is actually pretty low on fanservice, and is so ridiculous and exaggerated that after a while you kind of forget its idiotic subject matter entirely. This show has some unbelievable fight scenes, a hype as fuck tournament arc, and lovable underdog protagonists. It's a genuinely great anime. It's kind of like gurren lagan if gurren lagan were about girls beating each other to death with their asses.

BAD ANIME:

Africa Salaryman (Yes this GIF is actually from the show) is a low budget, mostly 3D anime that was dismissed by a lot of people as being shitty budget aggretsuko. In reality Aggretsuko wishes it had half the charisma of this show. Africa Salaryman is a work comedy set in a company that does... something, following the lives of three employees; toucan, lizard and lion.
Any illusions of this show being a cutesy work comedy will quickly fade once you realise that the toucan is an evil psychopath and this show has way more in common with Curb Your Enthusiasm than any cutesy animal anime. I pissed myself laughing loads of time watching this and I guarantee that it will go retroactively viral 3 years from now when some nerds start sharing clips of it.

 

[Rugi]

2023 SPRING ANIME SPECIAL
First time in a couple of years that I've gone more than a few months without being locked down or horrendously sick so time to celebrate by changing nothing and watching the current anime season (Yay!)

Oshi no ko
Fun fact! I was a background extra in a Japanese TV show once. So yeah. I know my way around the Japanese Showbiz Industry.
This really is the kind of show that is more impactful the less you know about it going in. All I will say is that it's a fairly cynical but nonetheless understanding drama about the showbiz industry from the perspective of a guy who has reincarnated into the son of his favourite idol. Episode 1 is a 1 hour long special and an absolute masterpiece that you should honestly go watch right now if you haven't. YOASOBI did a ripper of a job with the OP. I feel confident in saying that for many people this will be anime of the year.

Konosuba, Megumin Spin-Off
I forgot the actual name of this show and I can't be assed looking it up. Gotta admit, making a Konosuba spinoff like a fucking lifetime after the original one was popular is a very brave move production-wise. Luckily this show still works as a standalone anime. It's more of Konosuba's classic sitcom-y character interactions and fantasy world slapstick. I think the comedic timing in this one is actually better but then again all my memories of Konosuba come from clips I absentmindedly watched on Youtube.

Tengoku Daimakyou
This is one that a bunch of people have been talking about alongside Oshi no ko. Even without mentioning the plot, the art and background designs specifically are fucking nuts. Lovingly detailed post-apocalyptic Japanese settings that can vary from realistic to more artsy and sylistic depending on the show’s needs. Unfortunately my positives end there. We're like 6 episodes in now and this show is still more shock and awe nonsense than it is actual substance. It wants to be a gritty post apocalyptic scifi with a bit of Ghibli artistic flair, but the stakes are far too unclear world-building far too wishy-washy. It also has a twist I am 99% sure is going to happen and I will be severely disappointed when/if it does happen.

Skip to Loafer
I kinda hate it? Look man I'm sorry the budding romance between a country mouse girl and the oblivious trendy high school boy is very cute, but this show has so much really lame by-the-numbers character drama that it can start to feel like I'm watching a therapy session. I'm sure this show feels cathartic to certain subsect of the population, but I just can't sympathise with these comparatively perfect anime kids and their excuses for problems. The in-between comedy and slice of life content is fine I guess. Not my cup of tea but if you like cutesy romance and slice of life you might enjoy this one.

Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia
Aye check it out it's Skip to Loafer for mentally ill people! A boy and a girl start to form a relationship with each other through mutual understanding of the pain of being an insomniac. This culminates in them establishing an astrophotography club so that they can look at the stars and spend nights together. Very cute, warm romance. The two main characters are fucked and I love them for it. That being said this is definitely a bit of 'Rugi' show and I think the more well-adjusted of you will enjoy Skip to Loafer more.

Jijou wo Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru
Aye check it out it's Skip to loafer for mentally ill people! Kind of absurd that a romance featuring a cast of snot-nosed eleven year olds feel more genuine than any of the other romance shows this season, but this show is unbelievably cute. There's a good balance of making the characters feel realistic for their age while not making them bratty to the point of being annoying. I watched this drunk at party with a bunch of blue collar men and by the end we were all 'awww'-ing at this show. A story of an earnest little girl who's the victim of bullying being brought out of her shell by a little chuunibyou hyper-enthusiastic boy obsessed with fantasy and games is very heartwarming.

Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu!
Hahahhahahahhahahahhahahahhahaha. It's gay girls being gay at the gay girl's cafe. You probably like that don't you? Kind of mediocre though. Like Blend S if it were severely unfunny and gay.

Edomae Elf
It turns out that all this time the gods enshrined in Japanese temples were actually just immortal elven otaku girls. This is what the Japanese have been keeping from us folks. This show repeats the same formula of the elf girl ranting about how cool gundam is followed up by some insane anecdote from 1600s Japan just to remind you that she is actually an elf god and not a failure of a human being. That being said it is very cute and I'm a big fan of the alt history shit it's got with elves in Japanese religion. Also has an S-tier OP.

Edomae Elf Op

Oshi no ko Op

 

[Local Dog]

I am so happy I never got heavily involved in the AoT fandom. I usually hate it when people say "ooh, look at these weirdos, there a grand total of 5 oddballs out of thousands in this fandom, totally fucked up this group of people!", but the absolute cope of AoT fans on an AoE is insane

I despise the manga ending and feel like it genuinely invalidates the story. One of my favorite manga, Beastars, also has a really bad ending and a really bad last third, but it's message can sustain and stand without this last third. AoT meanwhile muddles everything and makes me genuinely wonder if the story ever had meaning

But to think that now, after everything, there'll be an alternative ending? How? It's all already set up and the trailers speak a pretty clear message about following the manga's events

A lot of people now are also talking about how they never wanted an AoE and instead want the manga ending to be fleshed out? How will fleshing out the ending solve the immense flanderization, character assassinations, nonsensical conclusions, unspoken character flaws and nothing ending?

 

[Rugi]

For my many ardent fans the seasonal anime post is comingTM

In the meanwhile I watched a funny gag anime called 'Tonari no sekikun' from 2014 about a girl trying to ignore all the ridiculous shit the boy next to her is doing while focusing on class. Very funny and cute but worth mentioning because both the OP and ED are insanely good and I'm shocked to have never seen them on any top OP/ED lists.

ED

OP

 

[Local Dog]

What the fuck live action One Piece is actually amazing

Somehow, very grounded stories like Death Note or Cowboy Bebop are adapted shittily but some crazy, cartoony story like One Piece works in real life?

I felt like it wouldn't be bad once I heard of the live action cast and saw how fitting all the actors looked and how they respected their ethnicities. Seeing the sets and hearing of Oda's involvement put my expectations up to thinking it would be good. But it actually slaps ass?