Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4828 |
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I just finished rewatching Shakugan No Shana season 1 and I have to say, it really holds up well even after 12+ years or so.
I don't get why people say the Bluray quality is "terrible" because it looked good to me and I also don't get the Yuji hate. He is a decent male lead. His moments of denseness are there for plot, it's not because that's who he is. But all the reviewers saying "I wish he died when he was supposed to in episode 6" lolwhut seriously!? 
Shana herself is still very cute. I think she remains my second fave Kugimiya girl. I freaking love all the side characters.....except for maybe Yoshida but I remember starting to like her a little in the second season. The friend I watched it with, hated her though. 
It's still a difficult show to understand mostly because of all the special terminology (you feel like you have to take NOTES with this show lol) so I'm started the first novel and so far, it explains things a bit better. There's also more focus on Yuji's situation as a Torch and it's pretty heavy-you really feel sorry for this kid....and everyone else who gets the same fate. |
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Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
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I remember hating Yoshida. I think it was mostly because Yuji and Shana spend so much time together while the relationship between Yuji and Yoshida is mostly awkward so there's no chemistry. So I guess Yoshida felt like an unnecessary love interest and completely inferior to Shana with her flaming hair and sword and the cool embers that fly around her. It has been quite a long time since I watched the show and I've forgotten a lot of details so maybe I'd feel differently about her now. Speaking of rewatching stuff, I recently rewatched Steins;Gate. I had forgotten how good the chemistry between all the characters is. There's some great banter between the characters, particularly between Okabe and Kurisu. The first half of the show really thrives off of that chemistry and banter while the 2nd half gets really suspenseful. The show has some really good romance too. And the opening kicks ass. An excellent show overall. I started watching Spice and Wolf season 2. It has been quite a long time since I watched the 1st season so I had to go to wikipedia and read episode summaries to get an idea of what happened in the first season. It's a very talky show and I'm not an attentive viewer when things get talky so sometimes I might not pay attention to the dialogue for a moment and then kinda wonder what the characters are talking about. I still find the show enjoyable though. Lawrence and Holo mesh together pretty well so that's enough to carry the show eventhough sometimes I might scratch my head thinking: "What are those two on about?" |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1860 |
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Steins;Gate 0, the sequel/alternate future which tells the story of "What if Okabe decided to give up on spoiler[saving Kurisu] in episode 23 after accidentally spoiler[killing her on the first try]," is pretty good so far.
Being a sequel to the original Steins;Gate with such a bleak premise, it's VERY difficult to talk about anything in this series without spoiling major plot twists in the original anime/VN. Suffice to say that if you haven't seen Steins;Gate, you should read past my post and come back when/if you finish watching it. Or, if you don't care about spoilers, proceed. WARNING! POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR STEINS;GATE! WARNING! WARNING! DO NOT READ THE TEXT BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN STEINS;GATE AND CARE ABOUT SPOILERS! WARNING! WARNING! Okay, you had your warning. In the original Steins;Gate, Okabe learns that the only way to save Mayuri is to return to the timeline where Kurisu died in episode one. After doing so, he learns from Suzuha, who has come back in a time machine once again, that the only way to prevent World War III is to save Kurisu's life. However, upon trying to save Kurisu from her father's stabbing of her, Okabe accidentally murders her himself. In this version, the Beta ending as it's called, Okabe never received a video from his future self. He simply gave up on saving the future and his beloved Kurisu and went on to live a normal college life without really giving the impending end times much thought. No more Hououin Kyouma, no more Future Gadget Lab (it's now just Daru's hangout), no more eccentric acts. Okabe is heartbroken, but instead of becoming a shell of a human, he simply tries to make the most of life, dating other girls and indulging in clubs at his college. It's kind of sad in a relatable way. Easily, the most emotionally resonant thing was at the end of episode two, after Okabe was permitted some time with an AI reconstruction of Kurisu using her memories to create a sort of copy. Upon first speaking with this version of Kurisu, in the company of Hiyajo Maho (AKA, waifu of the season) she was a cute, polite girl who often teased Maho about having a crush on Okabe and spoke very respectfully to everyone. Sure, she had a lot of Kurisu's intelligence and ideas (right down to admitting that Time Travel was likely possible and that ruling it out completely would be arrogant of a scientist, something that the real her would probably say), but the way this AI version acted at first was very... well, artificial. It was like a waifu bot, conventionally perfect and appealing in every way, but that's not what makes Kurisu the best girl of Steins;Gate. Giving all these unearned compliments, claiming it was an honor to speak with Okabe (as Maho's new friend, since the version of Kurisu who uploaded her memories onto this AI would have had no interaction with Okabe). All of these things hammered in the sad truth of it all. Makise Kurisu is dead. Okabe gave up on her and the result of this AI, which she had begun making before her death, was simply an impressively responsive shell that happened to resemble her in terms of the appearance of pixels on the screen. It hit me the same way it seemed to hit Okabe. And then, it happened. The end of the episode which changed everything and made me realize that Steins;Gate 0 had the potential to outshine its predecessor. Okabe received several attempted video calls from someone, and finally, on the 8th call, he picks up. It's the AI version of Kurisu, clear on the screen of his phone for us to see with an irritated scowl on her face. "I see you finally decided to pick up after ignoring my calls eight times in a row. If you don't feel like talking to me, I suppose it can't be helped. It's just... with you being a tester, I thought I'd be able to chat with more people than I used to! Why aren't you saying anything?! In any case, you can call me whenever you feel like it, I guess... But I'm a busy person too, so I might not be able to answer you! Hmph!" Hearing those words with that face made tears fall from my eyes for the first time since Made in Abyss. This was, without a doubt, the Makise Kurisu that I, erm... I mean, Okabe, fell in love with. This sassy, intelligent, strong-willed woman who is rarely honest about her feelings of doubt and loneliness. To see this AI finally show the exact personality that I thought would be completely absent from this show was just pure bliss. My heart melted and my eyes were overflowing with tears. I'm on the fence now. Should I keep watching weekly or wait until it's done? I already know for a fact that this is going to be the anime of the year for me. |
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Akane the Catgirl
Posts: 1091 Location: LA, Baby! |
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Progress Report:
I finally got my Devilman Crybaby recap of Episode One all typed out! All I have to do is send it to my editor, make a few adjustments, and with some luck, it'll be up this week. I think I'll go reward myself with some Aggressive Retsuko. For what it's worth, I got to use this image for the post. So here's a kind-of preview. 
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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So, I decided that it was about time that I watched the series that seems to be so talked about recently, Aggressive Retsuko (Aggrestuku?), I got the recommendation, and seems that it has been the topic of discussion. I am sure that the talk is in connection to the ONA with Netflix, but I wanted to do this right, so I went with the TV series first. The TV series is only a minute long per episode, so it shouldn't be too difficult, but it was also 100 episodes long, adding the total watch time (alone) to add up to 100 minutes.
The TV series was good, I feel bad that I did not know about this until now, while episodes started in 2016 and finished only recently. A lot of super relatable, or I would say likely insightful looks into the happenings of an office lady in the accounts department. I know that some of the undercurrent was that Retsuko dislikes her position, but as someone who has tried to get into accounts department jobs and only managed to right now get a part time bookkeeping job, I am a little envious. (I am even doing some volunteer work in an office until I have racked up enough experience). I really enjoyed the characters, and look forward to the ONA which apparently do more insightful things with them. I give the TV series a rating of Good (7/10), it is worth seeing, that I found myself kind of at places finding it hard to stop going onto the next one. I could go right onto the Netflix one, I have time today, but I just went through 100 fairly contained stories of the show. I think that I will let myself mentally process them all before starting on the next part in the series. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4828 |
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That's really quite funny because I just binge-watched Aggretsuko from Netflix last night.
What the heck; it's like the yoga guy was channeling everyone on ANN to watch it.
Well, I can't say anything new. It's fantastic, both audio tracks are superb, I want a second season and I want to see spoiler[Haida and Retsuko get married during it.] This is the only anime I have watched with an all animal cast, I am pretty sure. Actually before I began my dark descent into the otaku world (  ) I was QUITE the furry fan mostly because all my favorite childhood movies only featured animal characters. They were all I drew and talked about. Um you know, in that innocent childish way, not like....lol nvm.
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I was tiered last night, watched an episode of the Netflix Aggretsuko, and with a bit more time this afternoon I thought that I could watch a few episodes, but I could not do that. I just binged the rest of the series because I could not stop. You are right Chiibi, it is fantastic. A series that I can outright say that I loved, even beyond saying that I enjoyed the shorts, the Netflix one just had me at multiple times feel like cheering. Very into its deliberate and confident take on itself.
A particular favourite part was when Tsubone was spoiler[pretty much bullying Retsuko, put the happy face printout on Retsuko, and then everyone could feel Retsuko's rage underneath]. And when Fenneko is laughing at Haida mishearing something, which I had been shown before, but in context became very funny. Fenneko was certainly an easy character to like, and indeed great, but I am kind of interested in how it kind of made me like Tsunoda, and became rather interesting opposed characters. I have a theory while watching, where Ton claimed that he spoiler[did not remember the night before when Retsuko shredded him when she showed her metal side, and she was anxious about]. I suspect that he spoiler[was totally lying, and fully appreciated that Retsuko indeed has a fighting spirit, can stand up for herself, and has a tough side]. Ton did not like to show weakness, so it totally did not make sense that he would be spoiler[so quick to admit he remembered nothing from last night, unless he wanted Retsuko to be able to just act normally again]. Felt like it fitted into the narrative Ton spoiler[secretly saw a part of himself in her, was partially pushing her to toughen her up, and that she had the potential to eventually take over from him]. Anyway, since I usually give a rating. I say Excellent (9/10). Feels a little hard to put into words, but it felt like it tapped into something that I really cannot compare to. It fully used the charm of its design and music, to really portray something that would probably take too long to really do so. Mother's Basement already did a good enough job to really do so, so just look at that. I really want to get a Retsuko plushie now, I would put it next to my Isabell from Animal Crossing plushie, the two of them just feel like a good fit. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4828 |
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Oh I think your Ton theory is very plausible. It seems that the main theme of this show is "There is more than meets the eye" with nearly every character. Retsuko has her rage secret. Fenneko looks cute and smiley but she's actually quite cynical. Haida looks tough but he's really a huge softie, Tsunoda looks like an oblivious ditz but she's actually sharp and manipulative. Gori looks powerful and intimidating but she's actually quite sensitive and so on.
The only one who doesn't seem to follow this rule is Resasuke who looks like a dumbass, acts like a dumbass, and truly is a dumbass.
I think.....maybe. What was up with all those plants? That was odd. Ton's whole spoiler[HAPPY FACE!!! （゜∀゜）mode] really left me in stitches. You know he was doing it on purpose to freak everybody out. xD And his demands are still ridiculous. STAPLES AT 45 DEGREES WHO THE HELL CARES!? xD |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Having watched the 1 minute episodes, what was great about finishing on the staple was that it came up in one of those episodes. Where Retsuko first stapled the middle top of the papers, then the corner, but like she did at the end here. How that worked sort of differently there, is that although Retsuko was getting increasingly frustrated in fixing it each time, strangely it felt like that episode came across as Retsuko not being better than the people she was frustrated by. She was told each time it was okay and not worry about it before she said that she would fix it, and I think it might be reasonable to point it out. I could totally see myself pointing to someone that they stapled papers incorrectly. That episode finished with Retsuko doing it at the right angle, but doing it backwards. You ask who cares? But perhaps someone who is working with them a lot and wants some uniformity in documents. It did totally come across as petty here, like one slip up pointed out, to show frustration is still there. Which is funny in comparison to the alternate where Retsuko started with something as odd as stapling the middle rather than a corner, and was adding to her own stress in trying to do something herself. Granted, it was the weasel being a dick in that one. Has made me consider how I might act in the situation, so not to come across as a dick weasel. |
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Chiibi
Posts: 4828 |
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Oh, well I will have to watch the shorts then.
Though if I had a boss yelling at me for staple angles, I would believe he had a stick up you know where.
"Dick weasel". That's amazing. I'm going to use that next time I need to describe one who angers me. lmao Though I am wondering if that weasel in the anime is actually a meerkat? He kinda looks like Timon. xD |
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Cam0
Posts: 4888 |
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I'm still watching Mysterious Girlfriend X and I'm starting to get a bit frustrated with this show. Akira and Mikoto have zero chemistry. Even after 10 episodes they feel like strangers around each other. They barely interact and when they do they certainly do NOT look like a couple. Akira only found out where Mikoto lives in episode 8 and that was by accident. These two have been "dating" since the end of episode 1! Akira doesn't feel comfortable even telling someone that he has a girlfriend. I recently rewatched Sankarea and in one episode Rea and Chihiro build a bond and had banter that showed they have chemistry. Sankarea, which is by no means a romcom masterpiece, managed to do more in 1 episode than Mysterious Girlfriend X has managed in 10. How am I supposed to root for a couple that have no chemistry and barely know each other? This relationship between Akira and Mikoto sucks some major ass. Well at least I can read the Sankarea manga.
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Chiibi
Posts: 4828 |
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Watched all the Aggretsuko shorts and they are funny....but I definitely prefer the newer ONA series. The shorts actually feel a bit repetitive because they follow the same formula each time (something makes her mad and she snaps and sings about it) But the ONA gaves us so much more than just one running joke.
Still, this scene really did kill me dead xD (all price stickers can go to hell :'D) @Cam0 I saw an AMV of MGX and it was so disgusting it made me want to puke. WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THAT SALIVA. EW. lol But Sankarea is ♥♥♥ |
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Cam0
Posts: 4888 |
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mmm, yummy... I feel queasy. Yeah, it's weird. Drool can somehow transmit emotions so characters taste each others' drool to find out how they feel. |
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Akane the Catgirl
Posts: 1091 Location: LA, Baby! |
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Progress Report:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! *ahem* Still editing my Devilman Crybaby Recap of the first episode. Quality takes time, you know. Also, watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure on Toonami. I haven't been able to get the Oingo Boingo Brothers song out of my head. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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Happy birthday to you. May it be filled with Bishonen men waiting on you hand and foot.
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