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Posted (edited)

Couldn't sleep, started nosing around, and...

How. The. Hell. Did I miss this?! Since when did this happen?! Hunter x Hunter (2011) is on Funimation in the UK...and has been since July?!?!

Just snuck on there, months ago, and somehow hasn't turned up in my recommended section on Funimation? Or anyone on my front page?! What the heck?!?!

I know I was busy-ish at the time, but still, considering I feel like I keep my ear pretty close to the ground on this...I'm pretty surprised it passed on by. It's the first time the series has its dub completely available in the UK. 

Also a blu-ray collection on the way at the end of November over here too, Set 1 with episodes 1 - 26 coming on November 30th, which covers the Hunter Exam and Zoldyck Family arcs. It's funny because I've managed to avoid picking up anime series on disc to this point, but I'm not risking not having access to Hunter x Hunter in the future when it inevitably stumbles out of Funimation down the line. Definitely going to be snapping that up! 

If you haven't watched Hunter x Hunter before, do yourself a favour and change that (and if you have before, this is a perfect excuse to watch it again!).

As a bit of a warning, it starts off quite slow and a bit predictable in the earlier arcs (which, not to spoil anything, is kind of by design), and is fairly long (148 episodes in total, longest anime I've watched through by a decent amount...still didn't stop me from binging it under two weeks the first time around, though!), but it is an absolute masterpiece: endearing main cast, a wonderful gallery of antagonists, nuanced character arcs, a deep and storied world, one of the best power systems in any shounen(/combat) show, a masterclass in animation by Madhouse, and an absurdly astounding soundtrack composed by none other than Yoshihisa Hirano (Death Note, Final Fantasy XIII) - I'm talking maybe one of the best OST's, period. 

It left me wanting more, so much so that I bought the available volumes of the manga and then tracked down translations of the chapters not yet included in volumes. Only downside with the whole thing? You will absolutely come away from the anime wanting more...and there isn't too much more beyond that. Togashi (who also created Yu Yu Hakusho) has unfortunately been on hiatus for a while due to stress and physical ailments, and we haven't had a new chapter for years (very fun when in the middle of probably the most intriguing arc set-up so far). The upside? Trust me when I say that you can watch the anime, and only that, and come away completely satisfied that Hunter x Hunter is just that, 148 episodes of greatness. Unless you hate recap episodes, in which case it's 146 :p

Oh, and it probably has one of the most memorable OP's out there with Departure (by the time the show is done, you will have an on-and-off again relationship with the song, growing to love it, becoming tired of it, punching the air in anticipation of it, and then later crying with it). 

Great ED's too, Hunting for Your Dream by Galneyrus being my favourite. Love the way the narrator comes in, sets up the next episode, and bails to this :bowdown:

This is, without question, my favourite anime series alongside only Steins;Gate and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, with all three in my eyes being several notches above the rest. This sits alongside them atop my pile of fabled 10's.

Do yourself a favour, if you haven't seen it before, and give it a chance of sitting alongside yours :peace:

Edited by Julius
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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Got volume 1 of Chansaw Man in this morning. I kinda just bought it since I was recomended it but it is actually kind of fun so far. Might considder picking up the rest of it when the other volumes are released.

Posted
  On 10/29/2020 at 5:35 PM, martinist said:

Got volume 1 of Chansaw Man in this morning. I kinda just bought it since I was recomended it but it is actually kind of fun so far. Might considder picking up the rest of it when the other volumes are released.

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Recent chapters have been pretty crazy, I find it gets a big hard to follow as well. The art style makes a lot of characters look the same.

Posted

It's always a weird day when anime/manga turns up on the front page of the BBC website, but hey, at least this time it's with good reason: Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train (that will never not be fun to type) has absolutely killed the Japanese box office. And all this with COVID (cases rising by about 200 per day at the moment in Tokyo). 

From Siliconera:

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The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba movie broke box office records in Japan. Within the first ten days of being released, following its October 16, 2020 debut, the animated feature film made over ¥10 billion in sales. That ends up being roughly $95.3 million. [Thanks, The Mainichi!]

This means Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train beat Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirted Away as the fasted grossing film in Japan after making over ¥10 billion in sales in a span of ten days. However, Spirited Away still holds the record for the highest grossing Japanese film of all time. Time will tell if Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train will break even more records and steal that title too.

In addition to setting the record of fastest grossing film reaching over ¥10 billion in sales within a ten day period, the move also broke the record for ticket sales. The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train movie made approximately ¥4.62 billion within the first three days of its release.

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Crazy! Good for them, I don't doubt in the slightest that it deserves it. Looking forward to the release over here next year!

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Posted
  On 10/30/2020 at 1:36 PM, Happenstance said:
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Oh dang, that would be huge considering that they already own Funimation!

Might lead to a better chance of certain shows getting a dub that hadn't already (or being dubbed earlier than they otherwise would have been) down the line. Very interesting. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

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Just got finished rewatching Hunter x Hunter (2011), having started it the night after I found out that it was available on Funimation. I tried my best to limit myself to 5 episodes per day, to not get caught up and swept away in it, and yeah...it's been three weeks and it's over again. I first watched it last November/December and binged it in two weeks back then juggling work and travel, and I feel just as empty now as I did then. I knew this was going to happen :p I crave more, Togashi! But in all fairness, Madhouse kicked it out of the park with this adaptation. In my last post about the show I endorsed it, and after rewatching the show for the first time...I have to heartily endorse it even more than I did before, there were quite a few things I picked up on this time around knowing how things were going to play out, and I still found myself on the edge of my seat half of the time in spite of this.

Again: awesome cast, an OST which I've listened to daily for the last three weeks and have to say is hands down the best anime OST I've listened to (and is amongst my favourites in any medium - Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, heck, yes, even Star Wars), excellently written characters and character motivations, beautiful character arcs, a power system which is probably alongside the Elements in the Avatarverse (the one with the bald kid with the blue arrow tattoo, not the blue people) as being my favourite, and yeah, it's just awesome. It doesn't take itself too seriously and has some hilarious moments, but has just as many heartfelt ones, and the same goes for epic fights and extraordinary animation. I also love how some arcs are teased multiple arcs out, which, again, is a testament to Togashi's qualities as a writer. Seriously, go watch Hunter x Hunter if you haven't already. 

I kind of just want to dig into what I thought about the arcs. I don't want to dig too deep, though obviously I will probably mention some spoilers as they're in spoiler tags, but just talk generally about what I thought of each one and what I liked and (in rare cases) disliked about them. 

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I've just checked my list from last year of how I ranked the arcs after my first viewing, and honestly, I'm happy with it being the same now as it was then. If there were to be any changes, though, I think it would be from my 3rd to 5th placed arcs; they're all very close for me. 

1. Yorknew City Arc

2. Chimera Ant Arc

3. Heavens Arena Arc

4. 13th Hunter Chairman Election Arc

5. Hunter Exam Arc

6. Greed Island Arc

7. Zoldyck Family Arc

  On 10/19/2020 at 12:40 AM, Julius said:

This is, without question, my favourite anime series alongside only Steins;Gate and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, with all three in my eyes being several notches above the rest.

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This is, without question, my favourite anime series. 

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Edited by Julius
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Posted (edited)

Has anyone seen Fog Hill of Five Elements?

It’s a Chinese animé from a studio of only 7 people and is planned to be 8 episodes in its first season (only 3 released so far - they’re being released irregularly as the studio is so small).

 The animation is INSANE!

 

Edited by Kav
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

Anyone else check out the Season 4 opener for Attack on Titan last night?

Huge change of pace and style, but I really enjoyed it. Love the art style MAPPA went with, much closer to the couple of pages I've seen of the manga, and animation quality was generally great, though I'll be the first to admit I don't like the Titans now being fully 3D (much preferred them in 2D, but still, a big step up from the 3D animation we had before) - though, I only think I've had a handful of instances where I've actually appreciated 3D being well in a 2D space. OP kind of feels like a baby gender reveal with all that coloured smoke... :p but still like it. Not as hyped as the Linked Horizon openings, but given the change of pace, not too surprising that they chose to go with something else, and I dig it. Gave me the chills.

Oh, and also loved that they kept the episode panel and a bunch of other smaller details consistent with the earlier seasons. 

Hadn't been too well last week, so found myself wanting to be away from screens in general, and caught up on the My Hero Academia manga instead; it's probably somewhere towards the end of what I imagine will be Season 6 now after Chapter 293 yesterday, and holy heck, some of the best arcs/moments are still to come to the anime! Got the Vigilantes volumes on the way too... :laughing:

Naturally, catching up with the manga got me watching Heroes Rising, and while I did enjoy it (the hype and soundtrack is like soup for the soul when you're feeling down) and though it was much better than Two Heroes, still think it was a general step down (also I'm not the biggest fan of semi-canon films, wish they'd follow Demon Slayer's example and just adapt the next arc into a film, or, tell a story which could be consistent with the manga/show) and not a great tradeoff for the animation quality in S4 dipping compared to previous seasons. Which leads me onto...

Well, so much for Horikoshi not having anything left for films :p at least Bones have separate dedicated divisions for their series and films now they've restructured a bit, so fingers and toes crossed this won't have an impact on the latter half of Season 5 in particular. 

This has all resulted me in rewatching the show, about a third of the way through Season 4 again now. Season 1 was much better than I remembered it being, definitely think it only being one cour really helped its pacing; Season 2 is still probably my favourite overall, as the animation quality, plot, and characters all felt like they're the best we've got in the show so far; and Season 3 takes a bit of a dip in animation quality compared to Season 2, but it's still my second favourite by some margin, with probably my joint favourite fight sequence. It's funny not being that far into Season 4 and just how obvious the dip in animation quality is with the number of wider shots of the class they've used, I really do hope Season 5 doesn't get hit by the film's production. Either way, Shoto is still the best.

Also, I only realised during my rewatch that Yuki Hayashi is the composer, funny how many tracks sound so similar to his awesome Haikyuu soundtracks!

Edited by Julius
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Posted
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Whelp, another opening to listen to repeatedly.

Man, this season's gonna be fire. My favourite "mini-arc" from the manga is so close to being animated...

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Posted
  On 12/7/2020 at 3:56 PM, Julius said:

Anyone else check out the Season 4 opener for Attack on Titan last night?

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Damn, I remember loving season 1 and that I couldn't wait for season 2. And now season 4 is starting? I never even started season 2. I have a lot of catching up to do!

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Posted

Season 2 took four years to come out because the author felt like it would be too much pressure to write while dealing with an anime adaptation breathing down his neck, almost catching up (fun fact: the 1st Season was supposed to be 13 episodes long, but after its explosive success, they immediately increased it to 25 episodes, thus causing that sudden fright on the author. Quite the lesson on how to properly space an ongoing adaptation)

But after that small hiatus, the seasons have been coming out at a steady pace, and it's been great. You're in for a ride, @Vileplume2000. Might be good to rewatch Season 1, that's basically what I did after I took a long hiatus from the manga.

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Posted (edited)

The Demon Slayer dub is finally releasing on Funimation tonight at 21:00 GMT! 

It's about time! :p heartily recommend it for anyone who wants awesome animation, a great soundtrack and OP, and a really well done first season to draw you in. Oh, and a really amicable protagonist.

My younger brother got into the show and loved it, so I've been buying him the manga since (which I'm refraining from checking out myself!) and he's loved everything about it so far, which definitely has me excited for Mugen Train and the inevitable second season. 

Definitely worth your time if you haven't seen it already! :peace:

Edited by Julius
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Posted
  On 12/10/2020 at 12:25 PM, Ike said:

AT&T sells Crunchyroll to FUNImation for $1.175 billion.

https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2020/1209/atttosellcrunchyrolltosonysfunimationglobalgroup

No idea what that means, but FUNImation’s streaming site isn’t exactly the best.

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Yeah, the apps are inconsistent too, though been having much more joy with the app on the PS5 with the newer version. That being said, it's still loading up episodes when they require further buffering. 

Seems like a very shortsighted move by AT&T Warner, though. Anime is only growing in popularity and content is king when it comes to streaming, so selling off the largest anime streaming service in the world seems stupid, to put it bluntly. I'd guess they want to focus on a rotating monthly lineup instead, but still...urgh. But didn't they also get the US rights to Ghibli films for HBO Max recently? Weird move all around, to fight for that but then sell off your titan anime service. 

Something positive which will hopefully come out of this - from a fan and business perspective - is more shows getting dubbed, and sooner.

Wouldn't be surprised if Sony did a total overhaul, started from scratch with a new platform, and merged Crunchyroll and Funimation into one new brand (which, you know, actually has an app which works well - they own Wakanim and Animelab already, right? So why is it only Funimation that I see complained about and is somewhat broken?). 

Guess we'll see how this goes...

Posted (edited)

Episode 2 of AoT S4 was awesome!  Slower paced and a better understanding of the characters, which I'm always a fan of.

The art style continues to grow on me, I noticed the music a bit more here (probably down to the last episode being so action packed by comparison), and the OP has grown on me a lot in the last week too, especially in terms of its visuals. 

Also, Horikoshi has been absolutely unhinged the last few chapters of My Hero Academia. Just read Chapter 294 and yet another reveal. Cannot wait to see this arc animated in two or three years' time, and after today's chapter, it's now the longest arc in the series, and we're still not done (though it does seem to finally be winding down). 

Finished my rewatch of My Hero Academia S4 earlier in the week and enjoyed it much more than I did earlier this year, even if I do still think the animation quality and season on the whole was a step down from S2 and S3. Bring on Season 5! 

And lastly, to break the cycle of me rewatching things, I started watching Mob Psycho 100 yesterday, and I'm halfway through the first season at the moment. Really wasn't feeling it in the first few episodes, as it felt like it wasn't going in any particular direction, but it's really picked up quite well and I'm having a lot of fun watching it! 

Edited by Julius
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Posted (edited)

Finished Mob Psycho on Tuesday and finished Mob Psycho II (and the second OVA!) last night. 

I was expecting some goofy comedy with some witty lines, I did not expect the journey or introspection on society and friendship which I ended up with. This show is absolutely not what I thought it was going to be, but it is something I genuinely think people should watch, because it's got some really important messages. Such likeable and well written characters - I knew it was held in high regard, but again, I really didn't expect it. Just the interactions between characters is awesome to see, everyone has their own motivations, and it just feels right. I mean, is there really a more likeable bunch of guys than the Body Improvement Club? 

Excellent OP's too:

This show bowled me over. I enjoyed One Punch Man for what it was, but this is on a whole other level of enjoyment for me. 

The animation is hilarious in its simplicity at times, and overall variety, whereas it's gorgeous in its fight scenes - genuinely has Akira vibes at times, down to all the psychic stuff I guess, but it's not afraid to get dark and go big either. The OST really surprised me too, I found myself humming along to quite a few tracks! Favourite is absolute Special Training Montage, because, well, it feels like 80's action movie training music, and it's awesome. 

Favourite use of it, and favourite fight, definitely has to be in...

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Absolutely loved this show. I know the first OVA is just a recap of season 1, but it's from Reigen's perspective, which means I'm definitely going to watch it this weekend :p speaking of, his special attacks had me rolling :laughing:

Strong recommendation from me. Only thing I would be wary of is the first three episodes or so of S1 being a bit slow, but once it finds its feet and you start to get a feel for the show and what it's about, it's really hard to put down. 

Now to just hold out hope that the next few arcs end up animated! 

UPDATE:

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I know the first OVA is just a recap of season 1, but it's from Reigen's perspective, which means I'm definitely going to watch it this weekend :p

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Yeah, didn't take that long for me to get to it. It was hilarious for a recap with how Reigen made himself the protagonist (and just about every other character who says or does something cool), and way more than I'd normally expect from an OVA. And when he just edits himself over the characters he's replacing himself with! :laughing:

Edited by Julius
Posted

Season 5 of My Hero Academia is starting on 27th March 2021! 

I know it's just a promotional video, but from the little we see here, the animation is a big step up from Season 4. Looks like having dedicated teams for the films and TV series is already starting to pay off, because Shoto's Flashfire First looks awesome! 

We also got a look at the art for the characters' winter costumes:

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Really hope the animation is how it looks here when the season drops, it'll give me a lot more confidence in them animating some of the upcoming arcs. Not too long a wait! 

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Posted (edited)

Episode 3 of Attack on Titan Season 4: easily my favourite of the season so far. 

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Really, really looking forward the next episode! :D 

Also, My Hero Academia Chapter 295...

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Edited by Julius
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Posted
  On 12/20/2020 at 11:01 PM, Julius said:

Episode 3 of Attack on Titan Season 4: easily my favourite of the season so far. 

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Really, really looking forward the next episode! :D

 

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Ah, there it is:

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Brutal episode, and I love it

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Posted
  On 12/21/2020 at 1:13 AM, Jonnas said:

Ah, there it is:

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Brutal episode, and I love it

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Posted (edited)

Time for Beastars Season 2 news!

New OP looks great, though I'm definitely going to miss the stop motion we got in the first OP. 

Also been confirmed that the series will be releasing on Netflix Japan on 6th January 2021, whereas the international release is being saved until July 2021. Quite the wait, but I'm sure it'll be worth it! 

EDIT: totally forget to link the trailer for it :p

 

Edited by Julius
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