The new anime and manga thread! [Use Spoiler Tags!]

[Julius]

Just finished Season 6 of My Hero Academia after starting it last night. Yes, I do need to go outside, get some fresh air, and touch grass. 

Honestly? Best the show has been since the end of the first cour of Season 3, and the best overall season in my opinion since Season 2 (which remains my favourite).

I knew pretty much everything that happened in the first half of the season as I read the manga up until that point a few years ago, and while some frames still leave much to be desired, I think it's the most action-packed and driven the show has been in a very long time.

There's half an episode of recap at the start of the second of the second cour (which, honestly, for a change, was very welcome, considering just how much happens in the first half of the season), but other than that, the story just marches on, and as always, the fights are typically high octane, Huyashi's OST is on point, and there are those classic MHA moments trying to get you to well up. And yeah, they got me once or twice. 

My Hero overall has some serious issues as a story, such as almost all of this taking place so far in the span of one year (and I definitely get the sense that Horikoshi set that pace early on and may have underestimated the workload that would mean), or some really weird pacing where we go from slow crawls to insane sprints, but Season 6 feels like a marathon in the best way possible. So much would happen in some episodes that entire episodes flew by in what felt like 10 minutes at most, but was actually 24, and so for all of My Hero's flaws over the years - both in source material and it's anime adaptation - I've got to say, they knocked it out of the park for me with Season 6. 

If memory serves, they also went the entire season without Mineta saying anything incredibly inappropriate, and that, I think, is a win for anime. 

Gets a 9/10 rating for me, matching the rating I gave Season 2, and a huge leap up from the lowest score I've given a season of My Hero with Season 5 last time out (which I gave a 7/10). 

Now the long wait begins for Season 7! 

Edited April 16, 2023 by Julius

[bob]

21 hours ago, Julius said:

All eight episodes listed in S6 are OVAs, maybe worth checking out if you just want more AoT and to see some of the extra stuff animated, but it won't be where you're picking up. 

Part I of S4 is everything from E60 - The Other Side of the Sea to E75 - Above and Below (16 episodes total), which finished airing in May 2021, so I think it's a safe bet to say you're past that point based on you saying you brought yourself up-to-date last year. 

Part II of S4 is everything from E76 - Judgment to E87 - The Dawn of Humanity (12 episodes total). This part finished airing in May 2022, so if you did watch everything that was available last year (depending on when last year you brought yourself up-to-date, and if you watch subbed or dubbed), then it seems likely that you finished Part II also, or at the very least a good chunk of it? 

Which leaves Part III/The Final Chapters, which is listed at the bottom of S4 as E-SP1 - THE FINAL CHAPTERS. This is just under an hour long and is basically two episodes in one, and the first half of AoT's finale. This released at the start of last month, so you definitely won't have watched this. 

Hope that helps 

Not yet. The first half of the series finale was released at the start of last month as an hour-long special, and the second half is set to release this "Fall" (so, September at the earliest). 

Ah yes, I think in that case then, I just have the Special Edition to watch. Probably won't bother with the OVAs,  i get confused enough with the main plotline. 

 

I also finished watching MHA S06. It was amazing! Possibly my favourite so far. The second half was a bit limp, but that's understandable after the first half being so amazing, and them wanting to set up Season 7 (presumably the final one?). 

[EEVILMURRAY]

18 hours ago, Julius said:

Not sure what you have or haven't watched (or what you're looking for – so a bit of a shot in the dark!), but a quick flick through Funimation's catalogue makes me want to recommend one of Ranking of Kings or Kaguya-sama: Love is War, both of which are brilliant shows in their own right 

Looking at their tiny synopsis, they seem a bit romantic for my tastes, I think I'm more of a fantasy chap.

I gave Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre a go yesterday. The first episode wasn't that great, but as each episode is a different story/ies, I'll give it a few more episodes. I feel sadly I won't be feeling this as much as I could with the cultural divide.

Also started My Hero Academia... it was not a strong start, with the main dude either fan boy-ing or being a pussy in front of a group of assholes who will obviously become his teammates and "EaRn ThEiR ResPeCt" as it goes along. Will also give this more time to grab my attention due to the load blowing going on here and elsewhere. 

[Happenstance]

14 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

I gave Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre a go yesterday. The first episode wasn't that great, but as each episode is a different story/ies, I'll give it a few more episodes. I feel sadly I won't be feeling this as much as I could with the cultural divide.

I like reading his manga stories but I couldn't get on with that anime version at all when I tried it. From what I've read a lot of people just didn't think it's translated well enough to anime.

[EEVILMURRAY]

Finally getting back into Dragonball Super. I've really been dragging my heels going through my blu ray set. Finally gotten to the Tournament of Power, where 48 minutes is going to be displayed over more than 30 episodes.

[EEVILMURRAY]

Because the "light novel" of Overlord is still going on, there isn't going to be a new season for some time, most grating... it ended on a... I don't want to say cliffhanger, but shit is definitely going down.

Next on the agenda - How Heavy are The Dumbbells You Lift? because I'm all about gains.

[Sméagol]

I saw Suzume two weeks ago. It was a bit disappointing.. It looked spectacular, like the previous films, characters were fun, but the story was shallow, and it felt like a rehash of themes we've already seen before, romance, fantasy, a bit of time travel, just not done as well.

[Julius]

6 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

I saw Suzume two weeks ago. It was a bit disappointing.. It looked spectacular, like the previous films, characters were fun, but the story was shallow, and it felt like a rehash of themes we've already seen before, romance, fantasy, a bit of time travel, just not done as well.

Ah damn, that's a shame to hear!

I probably won't be catching Suzume until it releases on blu-ray, but I had a feeling it might be a case of that after Weathering With You – while I enjoyed it, I view it similarly to how you described Suzume.

I caught a showing of Your Name at a small and cosy independent cinema last month, and it just reminded me how much Shinkai and his team nailed it with that film, but having also watched a film or two of his from before the success of Your Name...yeah, it seems like he's a bit of a one trick pony (I haven't watched Children Who Chased Lost Voices, yet, mind you, which does look to stray from his norm, but that film doesn't seem like it set the world alight). Then again, I thought 5 Centimetres Per was a lovely little film, even if it did tackle similar themes of love backed by great Japanese songs. 

His films obviously look great, and the soundtracks are fantastic, I just wish he'd tackle something new, because he nailed so much with Your Name that, for me, any project of his tackling similar themes is pretty much guaranteed to fall short. Heck, I love Garden of Words, and I think for many in the medium that would be a career high, so that takes some doing! 

At this point I can't tell whether it's a case of production companies wanting the guaranteed money of a Your Name-lite film, Shinkai realising he struck gold with a niche (at least in the animated movie space) in a market which he has built a massive fanbase in and is still growing exponentially and so is guaranteed success for him, or if he is genuinely a one trick pony. My guess would be it's a combination of the two former, I seriously don't think you can produce something like Your Name and creatively pigeonhole yourself because you have no ideas. 

Maybe it's just because we're getting like a fifth final hurrah from Hayao Miyazaki this year, and these types of films seem all but guaranteed to go away with him, but I'd love to see Shinkai tackle something much more mundane and almost slice-of-life just to freshen things up, like the day-to-day of an office job, or a taxi driver, or a farmer in Japan; Garden of Words and 5 Centimetres Per Second are evidence enough that he's interested enough in that kind of low stakes storytelling and can deliver. If he wants to infuse that with fantasy or sci-fi? Well, we've had a film with a protag as a shoemaker (Garden of Words), and another where one's studying to be an architect (Your Name), so how about one about a storyteller, writing or drawing something sci-fi or fantasy? Seems perfect for the medium and his style of storytelling. Heck, on the flip side of that, just go all-out with sci-fi and give us anime's take on 2001, it feels like it's been a good while since we've had a truly original sci-fi story in the medium in a film, and certainly nothing that looks quite like a Shinkai film. I feel like he's one of the few anime film directors actually positioned to make virtually whatever he wants and so it does seem, from the outside, like a bit of a waste of talent to retread familiar ground as often as he does. 

But yeah, long and short of it: would love to see him tackle something new, even though I still want to see Suzume for myself at some point. Fingers crossed, eh? 

[Ike]

37 minutes ago, Sméagol said:

I saw Suzume two weeks ago. It was a bit disappointing.. It looked spectacular, like the previous films, characters were fun, but the story was shallow, and it felt like a rehash of themes we've already seen before, romance, fantasy, a bit of time travel, just not done as well.

I agree that the themes are too samey, but I still enjoyed it. There was one point that was a bit confusing and I think a lot of the problems would have been avoided if the characters actually communicated properly.

I'd probably rank the "Disaster Trilogy":

Your Name

Suzume

Weathering With You

[Sméagol]

17 minutes ago, Julius said:

[..]

Maybe it's just because we're getting like a fifth final hurrah from Hayao Miyazaki this year, and these types of films seem all but guaranteed to go away with him, but I'd love to see Shinkai tackle something much more mundane and almost slice-of-life just to freshen things up, like the day-to-day of an office job, or a taxi driver, or a farmer in Japan; Garden of Words and 5 Centimetres Per Second are evidence enough that he's interested enough in that kind of low stakes storytelling and can deliver. If he wants to infuse that with fantasy or sci-fi? Well, we've had a film with a protag as a shoemaker (Garden of Words), and another where one's studying to be an architect (Your Name), so how about one about a storyteller, writing or drawing something sci-fi or fantasy? Seems perfect for the medium and his style of storytelling. Heck, on the flip side of that, just go all-out with sci-fi and give us anime's take on 2001, it feels like it's been a good while since we've had a truly original sci-fi story in the medium in a film, and certainly nothing that looks quite like a Shinkai film. I feel like he's one of the few anime film directors actually positioned to make virtually whatever he wants and so it does seem, from the outside, like a bit of a waste of talent to retread familiar ground as often as he does. 

But yeah, long and short of it: would love to see him tackle something new, even though I still want to see Suzume for myself at some point. Fingers crossed, eh? 

Yup, this is exactly what I want as well. I haven't seen Children who chase lost voices, The garden of words, or The place promised in our early days, but I have seen 5cm per second (and the short Voices of a distant star), and while that was a long time ago, I remember liking it. I love to see him do another pure drama, since that would mean he has to focus on the story and the dialogue.

I think a good recommendation for you, if you're looking for something in this style, would be A letter to Momo. It's a nice coming of age drama with some fantasy.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Sméagol

[Sméagol]

12 minutes ago, Ike said:

I agree that the themes are too samey, but I still enjoyed it.

[..]

 

Oh I still enjoyed it, I'm just not going to remember it, just like Weathering with you. I don't mind him using the same themes, as long as it's excuted well.

[darksnowman]

2 hours ago, Sméagol said:

I saw Suzume two weeks ago. It was a bit disappointing.. It looked spectacular, like the previous films, characters were fun, but the story was shallow, and it felt like a rehash of themes we've already seen before, romance, fantasy, a bit of time travel, just not done as well.

Sounds like you spent two weeks coming to terms with getting a lump in your throat over a three-legged stool and this is the best you could come up with.  

[Sméagol]

2 hours ago, darksnowman said:

Sounds like you spent two weeks coming to terms with getting a lump in your throat over a three-legged stool and this is the best you could come up with.  

That was not the case. My priorities are changing, and I'm having computer problems again. I'm browsing n-europe on my Raspberry Pi 3B, which isn't great a great experience. so I don't spend much time behind the computer at home right now. Plus there's honestly not anything I want to add to that.

[darksnowman]

14 hours ago, Sméagol said:

That was not the case. My priorities are changing, and I'm having computer problems again. I'm browsing n-europe on my Raspberry Pi 3B, which isn't great a great experience. so I don't spend much time behind the computer at home right now. Plus there's honestly not anything I want to add to that.

Not sure if that's because of the device you're using.  FWIW I pretty much agree with your assessment. I enjoyed the journey of Suzume but it lacked that extra something by the end, imo.

[martinist]

Been hearing a lot about a show called "oshi no ko" was looking for it last night and found it on Hidive but i'm not paying for it. Thinking of just collecting the manga and maybe taking a look when the show is finished.

[Beast]

I am new to anime really. I've watched Death Note, Deadman Wonderland, the first season of Attack on Titan and Studio Ghibli movies, if you count them. I've just got Crunchyroll Premium purely because of Demon Slayer, which I am in love with right now. I'm halfway through Mugen Train era and it is amazing!

 

Can you guys recommend any more I should watch? I like horror stuff mainly. I don't like transformers-type shows with robots flying around in space (I saw an episode of one and lost interest). I've saved Gantz, My Hero Academia, Mashle, One Punch Man and Chainsaw Man. I wanna get into Bleach and One Piece but find that they have hundreds of episodes pretty daunting! Dragon Ball is another I'd like to try but my God, there's so many series and spin-offs that I don't know where to even begin! 🤣

[drahkon]

8 hours ago, Beast said:

Can you guys recommend any more I should watch?

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

[EEVILMURRAY]

On 5/3/2023 at 10:00 AM, EEVILMURRAY said:

Next on the agenda - How Heavy are The Dumbbells You Lift? because I'm all about gains.

Watched the first episode last night. Very enjoyable and funny. And educational as it teaches you how to maintain form. @Beast I know you'd be feeling this.

 

Spoiler

 

I cannae find a version with English lyrics on work Youtube settings... SIDE-A-CHEST-O

Edited May 10, 2023 by EEVILMURRAY

[Julius]

9 hours ago, Beast said:

Can you guys recommend any more I should watch?

Yeah, going to agree with @drahkon and recommend Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood too. 

It's my go-to series recommendation for anyone new to, or diving further into, anime, because it's a complete story with little filler (at 64 episodes long it's just one episode longer than Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the shows are very comparable), feels familiar enough to a Western audience to get comfortable with it but has hints of (and then fully dives into) glorious anime weirdness, feels like it hits on a glut of anime tropes you'll see crop up in most shows, an amazing cast of characters, great music, and is just an overall masterpiece. 

For something a bit on the shorter side (26 episodes), Cowboy Bebop is another shout I feel. The soundtrack is whacky and jazzy, the characters are fun, but it can get a bit heavy at times, so it's not recommended for a binge over a weekend if that's your sort of thing. And I mean the anime here (we're in the anime thread after all!), not the live-action remake 

Beyond that, as a film recommendation, my go-to is Your Name. It's another one that feels familiar enough in that it's basically Freaky Friday, but then that awesome anime weirdness turns up and well...just watch it. It's also jaw-droppingly beautiful, which doesn't hurt it as a viewing experience at all! 

9 hours ago, Beast said:

I've watched [...] the first season of Attack on Titan

If you enjoyed the first season, I would recommend picking it up again later this year, as the anime is finally due to end this September/October and has been a great ride. I'm of the opinion the second season is a little bit of a step down, but from the second half of the third season onwards, it's been nothing short of brilliant. 

9 hours ago, Beast said:

I like horror stuff mainly.

Oof, I was actually listening to a podcast talk about horror anime the other day, and honestly? There aren't many - if any - traditional horror anime that I'd say are worth checking out. 

Which is okay, because I find that anime - thanks to its medium already having you suspend your disbelief - is perfect for psychological horror, which typically comes paired up with being a bit of a thriller, and for that I do have some recommendations. 

The first season of Psycho-Pass is 22 episodes long and is basically Criminal Minds meets 2001: A Space Odyssey, with futuristic guns that don't fire until they decide, through an algorithm, whether or not someone is likely to commit a crime based on how psychopathic they are. But what happens when someone learns how to play the system? Watch to find out 

As an anime film recommendation for psychological horror, Perfect Blue is the be-all and end-all of recommendations in this space imo. It's not just a great anime film, or a great film for its time, it is a perfect example of a creator having their finger on the pulse – it basically predicts modern idol culture, the effects of social media and the internet on celebrities, and the boom we've seen in parasocial relationships. 

Perfect Blue follows an idol as her career progresses, but when she starts to get stalked, the lines between her life as an idol/aspiring actress and her personal life begin to blur. It can be a little hard to follow the first time around, but trust me, it makes the second time around all the sweeter when you start to pick up on so much more of what's going on. Satoshi Kon, the director, in my opinion is one of the greatest modern directors when it comes to purposeful edits, the way scenes and shots flow into one another - or abruptly half, in other cases - is unmatched, for me. 

10 hours ago, Beast said:

I've watched [...] Studio Ghibli movies, if you count them.

Of course they count! Out of curiosity, which have you watched? There might be one or two left for you to love  (if you haven't watched all of them already, that is! Because if you have, fair play in advance, I still haven't! ) 

[EEVILMURRAY]

I recommend Outlaw Star as a superior form of Cowboy Bebop (music being the exception), And Seven Deadly Sins, just standard fun.

 

I agree with Julius about Your Name also, amazing. Don't bother with Bubble.

I think I'm gonna have to rewatch Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, because I remember it dragging much more than 60ish episodes. I think I spread it out over too long a timespan and things got lost. I'm doing it right now with Demon Slayer, which I did get confused with Goblin Slayer, which was much shorter. Worth a look though.

10 hours ago, Beast said:

Dragon Ball is another I'd like to try but my God, there's so many series and spin-offs that I don't know where to even begin! 🤣

If you want the main series, I'd go with Dragonball (approx 150 episodes), then Dragonball Z (about 290), then Dragonball Super (130). It can be a bit daunting though, so maybe just drop the original Dragonball, even Z as well. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by EEVILMURRAY

[martinist]

15 hours ago, Beast said:

Can you guys recommend any more I should watch? I like horror stuff mainly.

Another

Parasyte The Maxim (on crunchyroll)

Higurashi no naku koro ni

Umineko no naku koro ni

If you're into GANTZ then i'd really reccomend watching Inuyashiki on Prime Video if you have it. It's done by the same guy that did GANTZ. Can get a little bloody though, as with the rest of the reccomendations.

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by martinist

[Jonnas]

I second the following:

• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (the "Brotherhood" part of the title is important)
• Perfect Blue
• more of Attack on Titan

And I add Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen to the recommendations. If you're up for something particularly quirky and off the wall, but really damn good, I recommend Mob Psycho 100

21 hours ago, Beast said:

Can you guys recommend any more I should watch? I like horror stuff mainly.

What do you like about Horror? The psychological and existential dread that certain works can leave you with? Or is it the creepy monsters and gore you fancy? A lot of Anime do the latter, but few do the first.

21 hours ago, Beast said:

Dragon Ball is another I'd like to try but my God, there's so many series and spin-offs that I don't know where to even begin! 🤣

I'm going to disagree with Eevil, and highly recommend that you start with the original Dragon Ball. It's a fun comedy-adventure series that gradually turns into an action-combat series, and it's very enjoyable throughout. DBZ follows immediately after, and leans a lot more into the combat-action side of things. Those two series are pretty much the core of the franchise.

Dragon Ball basically became the codifier for action anime (like Naruto and Bleach), and it became so largely by chance, considering it started out as something else. One misses out on that evolution if they skip straight to Z.

[EEVILMURRAY]

8 hours ago, Jonnas said:

I'm going to disagree with Eevil, and highly recommend that you start with the original Dragon Ball. It's a fun comedy-adventure series that gradually turns into an action-combat series, and it's very enjoyable throughout. DBZ follows immediately after, and leans a lot more into the combat-action side of things. Those two series are pretty much the core of the franchise.

Dragon Ball basically became the codifier for action anime (like Naruto and Bleach), and it became so largely by chance, considering it started out as something else. One misses out on that evolution if they skip straight to Z.

I wouldn't say start immediately with Z, but if you're not willing to go balls deep and watch it all, I would cut the first. I have gone back to watch it as a prequel series type thing (as I started with Dragonball Z afternoons at 5pm on Cartoon Network), but have slipped away from it so haven't watched it all.

[Ike]

Definitely start from DB if possible.

There's always DragonBall Kai if to cut down the number of Z episodes.

Super is probably most accessible (i.e. it's on CrunchyRoll, the POP channel airs it, although they do some weird censoring, and BBC iPlayer. Both of those don't seem to show the Tournament of Power episodes though) and it is watchable without prior knowledge, but I wouldn't recommend starting with it.

[Beast]

I have saved all of these! Cowboy Bebop, Psycho Pass and Full Metal Alchemist are something I hear people talk about. Ace Attorney was something I found too. How Heavy Are Your Dumbbells looks fun too. I'm not sure what to watch next after Demon Slayer...reminding me of...

Mugen Train was amazing but I wasn't prepared for the last episode!!! 😔

The Dragon Ball thing is so confusing. Everyone has a different way to start watching and it's so confusing yet people find it confusing following Kingdom Hearts?! 🤣