What are you Watching?

[usamimi]

Yeah, he said that it was due to him working "non stop for the past 7 years" and he decided he needed a break before going onto his next work. I assume that just because he "retired" from the studio doesn't mean he won't probably come back and work with them in the future, tho! https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/ ... ience-saru

[llj]

I Want to Eat your Pancreas--I was reticent about this one because it has a pretty vocal following and the way it's being sold by some fans makes it sound like some overwrought, histrionic tearjerker.

Thankfully, it isn't really that. Most of the film is about the two leads hanging around various picturesque settings talking about life, culture and philosophizing about various meandering subjects. That appeals to me. The real climax is not what is expected but very logical to the film and does in fact have a big emotional punch.

Though it has a vocal fanbase, I can also see why there's been some hesitancy about its marketability in the US. It has almost no action whatsoever (not even a "guy chasing a girl through a crowded airport/train station to confess/apologize to her" scene) and, though the subject matter is inherently emotional, isn't really full of wild melodramatic plot twists that one would expect from this type of film. It's just two character hanging out for a while...and then it ends. So despite it being yet another story about high schoolers, it has a more sophisticated handling of the story than expected.

[llj]

Promare--Not much to say about this except it was a fun, albeit shallow action flick. It reminded me a bit of Redline in that the art design was far and away the biggest draw of the film. Hopefully Trigger does some more films, they probably have a great one in them.

[llj]

Beyond the Boundary--This is my least favorite KyotoAni production. I couldn't get on with it and lost interest 4 episodes in. I still finished it, but only as background noise while working on my laptop.

Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun--Really funny! Enjoyed this one and wish they made another season.

Id Invaded--This is an interesting one, sort of a throwback to those vaguely inscrutable "mindfuck" anime of the late 90s. Some people have compared this to Psycho Pass, but I disagree. Psycho Pass was much more of a police procedural with some sci-fi elements, Id Invaded is much heavier on the sci-fi and psychological element than the police stuff. All in all a nice change of pace from the stuff coming out lately.

Rising of the Shield Hero--Generic "Isekai" fantasy. Plays it straight. Enjoyable enough if you like straightforward drama fantasy I guess.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Season 2--This series is still one of the surprises of the currently overdone "Isekai" genre. Funny and likeable characters, bright visuals and decent cliffhanger-style plotting. The Five Star Stories joke late in this season "It's STILL going?" made me laugh.

[llj]

Weathering With You--I confess I always have viewed Makoto Shinkai with a level of ambivalence. There's nothing wrong with his films per se, he's a very talented animator, but I feel like he ran out of things to say long ago, and is eternally stuck in perpetually adolescent themes. I did quite enjoy Your Name as a "blockbuster romcom" (if there is such a term) but I figured that was his one shot at the Big Time Mainstream Acceptance and he wouldn't have much left after. So far, I'm not convinced yet I'm wrong. Weathering With You finds Shinkai at this point really reaching to find new wrinkles in the old "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl back" themes he's been reusing since his first few self-made films. It's all well made enough but the whole Magic Weather Girl angle is just too convoluted for the rather simple story he wants to tell (which is of course boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back)


Mob Psycho Season 2--This show continues to surprise me. It captures the original manga's appealingly awkward drawing style, and making it seem like Underground Comic Art. The characters still continue to be unique and likeable and its off-kilter tone mixed with generic self-improvement advice really actually works well here. I don't know if more seasons would make the show better, but I wouldn't mind seeing more.

[davemerrill]

Attack on Titan is back for its last season and I gotta admit I was iffy that the thing could figure out a way to get to a satisfying ending, and it looks like they're going to make it.

Yuru Camp is back for a second season and it's exactly what the world needs, low-stakes camping and cooking while camping.

[DKop]

Been getting into Girls und Panzer. Really cute show. The english dubbing seemed kinda robotic at first, but it's gotten better since it feels each actress has gotten used to their character about halfway through the show.

[llj]

Been getting into Girls und Panzer. Really cute show. The english dubbing seemed kinda robotic at first, but it's gotten better since it feels each actress has gotten used to their character about halfway through the show.

It's a guilty pleasure, isn't it? It's actually more of a military-cum-sports-show despite the cute girls thing. The tank battle strategy sessions are probably the best part of the show, and the formula could have gone on for another season or two imo.

I was pretty into Attack on Titan in season 1, but I have to admit the whole "You're a Titan! And you're a Titan! EVERYONE's a Titan!!" thing in season 2 really soured me on where the show was going.

[Drew_Sutton]

Weathering With You--I confess I always have viewed Makoto Shinkai with a level of ambivalence. There's nothing wrong with his films per se, he's a very talented animator, but I feel like he ran out of things to say long ago, and is eternally stuck in perpetually adolescent themes. I did quite enjoy Your Name as a "blockbuster romcom" (if there is such a term) but I figured that was his one shot at the Big Time Mainstream Acceptance and he wouldn't have much left after. So far, I'm not convinced yet I'm wrong. Weathering With You finds Shinkai at this point really reaching to find new wrinkles in the old "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl back" themes he's been reusing since his first few self-made films. It's all well made enough but the whole Magic Weather Girl angle is just too convoluted for the rather simple story he wants to tell (which is of course boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back)

I was super high on Shinkai back in the early 2000s. I thought he showed a ton of promise. I absolutely adored She and Her Cat, Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised In Our Early Days. But sometime between Place Promised and 5cm Per Second, I just stopped watching his films. While I adored them, Voices and Place Promised were very similar in theme and I think I remember hearing 5cm was also similar. It sounds like the much beloved Your Name and Weathering are both ALSO treading that familiar ground.

[usamimi]

For me, I think Your Name. worked because it was 1. gorgeous looking, 2. had an interesting premise, and 3. wasn't too hung up on explaining all the finer details. Weathering With You was honestly a step backwards for me, because it felt like it was an idea for a series of music videos they had to write a continuous plot around...it was pretty, and I enjoyed watching it in a theater on the big screen where it could look it's best, but I don't really have any desire to own it on bluray or watch it on my own TV at home. So I'd be more inclined to recommend Your Name. over Weathering With You. (Though I did think the little Your Name. easter egg they put in there was nice!)