Anime |OT| Winter 2020 - New Decade, Old Contract

[SolidSnakeBoy]

Astra 8

Why does this show fail so miserable at setting up anything. The whole ship swap was something obvious since last episode but boy let us spend a whole silly scene setting that up like we are toddlers watching Dora.

Pretty funny that now the show is breaking the fourth wall because why not.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

Astra 9

This is a lot. Well this is a little bit of a mess. Atleast this all sort of makes sense so whatever.

 

[Man God]

I'd like to add to my brief review above with a statement , I'm AMAZED that Ishuzoku Reviewers is actually on funimation. Sure it's censored all over the place and has a couple of content warnings but .... like a 12 year old kid could load up "My hero Acadamia" and move just a couple pages over to find this show lol. Not complaining though because I'm an oldtaku and find this shit hilarious but there it is.

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They're dubbing it which means they'll certainly release an uncensored version.

 

[Jintor]

How does somebody miss the point of the show so much lol

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i dont get it either lol

 

[Rainy]

Cross post from the Weathering With You OT

Overall, I really liked it, but along with what seems to the general consensus, just not as much as Your Name.

My god, the animation was absolutely beautiful, the best I've ever seen. Every single raindrop down to the last pixel looked gorgeous. The Tokyo cityscape was animated well, just as I expected from Shinkai and crew. The water really gave them the best chance to show off their stuff and they delivered, A+ in my book.

The music was SO GOOD. I think I personally liked Radwimps input here better than Your Name, the soundtrack was definitely more upbeat this time and maybe I vibed with it better. Also the contributions from Toko Miura for both "Celebration" and "Grand Escape" were great. The instrumental tracks were done well, Radwimps loves tying in a lot of their instrumentals with the main song for the film and they do that a lot here.

Story things will be under spoilers

Spoiler: Story Spoilers and Thoughts

So I felt that the story was doing pretty well for the first 2/3 of the film? From rumblings over the last week I kinda felt like I knew how it was going to end and I was right. Hodaka...is not particulary likable? But then you remember he's 16. I think it's realistic in that a lot of 16 year old boys would probably do a lot of idiotic things for a girl they like. Yet on the other hand, the whole climate change thing is a bit iffy. I know in interviews Shinkai has said that he didn't want to make an implicit statement about climate change and that he just wanted a good old fashioned romance, but with the set up of the film it's kind of impossible to do that lol.

Like...yes climate change can't be reversed by Hina sacrificing herself, but letting things get out of hand to the point where flooding Tokyo is the endgame kinda sucks. The ending would have obviously been better received if they somehow found a cop-out to save BOTH Hina and Tokyo. Then again, I almost would have liked an ending where Hina stayed dead better? I felt like he almost tried to give us a happy ending without taking other things into account.

Also the whole gun subplot was so fucking weird. The police just got styled on the whole movie and it made Hodaka look like a fucking psychopath lol. Also the fact that he just shot at Kei, who then sacrifices himself to give Hodaka another shot to reach out to Hina was lowkey ridiculous.

Also the movie does follow a lot of story beats from Your Name, it was blatantly apparent during the ending when Hodaka is looking up at Hina, the Your Name vibes were too strong there. I haven't watched any other Shinkai films besides these two but I read on reddit that his movies all follow a similar structure? And that these two are only different because they have a happy ending? Can someone verify?

Regardless, as I read in a review a few months ago, the biggest problem this movie has is following Your Name. I think Shinkai's next film will be really interesting, he really needs to mix it up before he gets stuck in this vortex of doing Your Name over and over again.

Also the scene where "Great Escape" plays and hits its crescendo just as Hodaka and Hina meet is absolutely beautiful and might be one of my favorite parts of the film.

Despite how negative that spoiler portion sounded I still really liked it. 8/10 from me.

The humor was also pretty good in the film, besides the few sexual jokes.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

Astra End

This show is a lot. I think I like it, I certainly enjoyed it! It's definitely a mess of overdramatic tropes, but it somehow makes it work. That final reveal was some weak exposition dump but alas I think it works.

Ulgar×Luca FTW.

 

[Mendrox]

I only watched Astra episode 1 and the last two episodes and didn't miss anything even reading the summaries. I still don't get what people loved about it that season. :D The shows opening made me feel like I watch a Pokemon Silver/Gold anime in space because they all looked like certain trainers which confused me a ton. Also the main character was the worst offender.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

I only watched Astra episode 1 and the last two episodes and didn't miss anything even reading the summaries. I still don't get what people loved about it that season. :D The shows opening made me feel like I watch a Pokemon Silver/Gold anime in space because they all looked like certain trainers which confused me a ton. Also the main character was the worst offender.

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It's definitely a journey rather than destination deal. The show is a mess, but it never drops to bad, it's just so over the top that it actually feels like intentional comedy. So I wouldn't say it's good in the conventional sense, but it's enjoyable and a very straight forward watch (well atleast early on).

 

[zulux21]

Astra End

This show is a lot. I think I like it, I certainly enjoyed it! It's definitely a mess of overdramatic tropes, but it somehow makes it work. That final reveal was some weak exposition dump but alas I think it works.

Ulgar×Luca FTW.

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the

Spoiler

What is earth reveal was sooooooo poorly done given that they go out of their way with the ship name and no one goes "sure, our planets name sounds fine for the ship." it's like calling the ship earth.... the sad part is if they were upfront about the whole thing the earth reveal would have been that much better because we would have gone the series without thinking it was connected to earth in anyway only for it to have that reveal. Where as I figured it was alt earth from the get go anyways.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

the

Spoiler

What is earth reveal was sooooooo poorly done given that they go out of their way with the ship name and no one goes "sure, our planets name sounds fine for the ship." it's like calling the ship earth.... the sad part is if they were upfront about the whole thing the earth reveal would have been that much better because we would have gone the series without thinking it was connected to earth in anyway only for it to have that reveal. Where as I figured it was alt earth from the get go anyways.

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Spoiler: Spoiler

It is poorly done, so is Charce being the bad guy. But it's soo poorly done that it's hilarious. In the end it's not egregious enough to be bad, just comical in how derpy and over dramatic it's done. I can never tell when this show really thinks it's doing something seriously.

 

[Mendrox]

It's definitely a journey rather than destination deal. The show is a mess, but it never drops to bad, it's just so over the top that it actually feels like intentional comedy. So I wouldn't say it's good in the conventional sense, but it's enjoyable and a very straight forward watch (well atleast early on).

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I immediately noticed the (seems like I even watched episode 2) construction of the series by them having a conflict at the begining, the conflict itself with them being on a new planet, the solution and the reveal of something of one of the crew members. Not surprised about it feeling like a comedy...it's the Sket Dance author :)

 

[zulux21]

Spoiler: Spoiler

It is poorly done, so is Charce being the bad guy. But it's soo poorly done that it's hilarious. In the end it's not egregious enough to be bad, just comical in how derpy and over dramatic it's done. I can never tell when this show really thinks it's doing something seriously.

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I mean...

Spoiler

The show actually did alright with setting up the Charce stuff, and was consistent with the details if you paid attention. his motivations... questionable, but nothing about it was overly forced to make the reveal work. Unlike the ship name/planet reveal which required a mislead scene that made zero sense at all after the fact. You don't hear/read "Ma Mamama EARTH!" and go what does it mean, you go... why does it have our planets name in it. beyond that you had to go out of your way to have anyone say the home planet but the moment the reveal happens they start dropping it all the time. it's the only thing I feel is legitimately horrid writing in the series, where the rest of it more comes off as a well written soap opera.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

I mean...

Spoiler

The show actually did alright with setting up the Charce stuff, and was consistent with the details if you paid attention. his motivations... questionable, but nothing about it was overly forced to make the reveal work. Unlike the ship name/planet reveal which required a mislead scene that made zero sense at all after the fact. You don't hear/read "Ma Mamama EARTH!" and go what does it mean, you go... why does it have our planets name in it. beyond that you had to go out of your way to have anyone say the home planet but the moment the reveal happens they start dropping it all the time. it's the only thing I feel is legitimately horrid writing in the series, where the rest of it more comes off as a well written soap opera.

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Spoiler: Spoiler

I meant that I figured out he was the traitor from the start so his reveal just made laugh in how serious the show thought this all was.

 

[Lukar]

Quoting myself from the Dragon Ball Super thread, hope it's okay.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this, but I couldn't find a more fitting thread when I searched for "Dragon Ball" in Hangouts.

Is there a way to legally stream all of DBZ Kai in the US? I found the show on the Adult Swim app, but it only has up to episode 66. Otherwise, the only options I'm seeing are to purchase the episodes on Amazon, or shell out money for the Bluray sets. Is there another option that I'm missing, or is there really no easy and cheap way to legally watch the entire series?

Haven't watched Dragon Ball in any form (original, Z, GT, etc.) since the mid-2000's, and I was wanting to try out Kai, but it seems like it may be a pain in the ass to do so...

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[Sterok]

Aikatsu on Parade 15: Meet People Who Only Know How to Win

As hype as this episode should be, mixing in three plots of Raki learning how to connect with fans, PPP/FuwaFuwa collab, and a Yume/PP hero show is just too much that doesn't let any breathe. Nothing was fleshed out, which happens too much in Parade. At least Shion got something, even if she'll never have a solo. PPP still most successful unit in the franchise. Kirara continues to be such an abusive wife towards Ako. Yume with a lightsaber, Mio with a whip, and Aine with a gun. Not sure which is the most notable. New Yume/PP song was great and unique. Also that's Yume's third collab already. I approve of this bias. Aine finally got a collab. Just wish we could've gotten a full episode of them vs evil Coco/Baby Pirates.

 

[Sandfox]

 

[Jarmel]

Invaded 1-3

Yea okay I'm on board. Show is less about the investigations in of themselves but rather how these serial killers see the world and how completely fucked up the main character is. The main character, Narihisago, is super nasty in a way that he would be the villain in most shows. A guy who gets off on making serial killers commit suicide has got to be up there in terms of unique main characters. He doesn't just want to find and capture them, he wants to break them.

Then there is the Moriarty counterpart waiting in the background and this show should be a lot of fun.

 

[PsionBolt]

Star Twinkle Precure 48

Yep. It is.

Not a bad finale, by any means. It hit all the buttons you want it to -- emotional singing bit, well-animated fight (using their super forms out of stock, too, which is very rare for Precure), catchphrase callback, the real imagination was the friends we made along the way, some tearful goodbyes, the whole routine. By the numbers, maybe, but that's what Twinkle does best. In the end, I'd place it easily in the upper half of Precure seasons, and I'd say it's a perfect one to be the first Precure season you watch. It doesn't stand out as exceptional like Dokidoki or HaCha do, but it also doesn't let itself get so standard that it's boring like Suite or Maho do. Star Twinkle is just a solid, exactly-what-it-says-on-the-tin Precure show. That's just fine in my books.

Still one more episode for the epilogue and baton pass, of course. Healin' Good, here we come!

 

[Oldmario]

Flip Flappers END

Not bad, but this is the third series I've gone through recently that felt like it really needed to be a bit longer to have a better balance of fleshing out characters and world building. The twins and that and that third child, plus the other two working with the doctor at Flip Flap all needed a bit more screen time instead of basically just being plot devices.

Also kind of unrelated, but does anyone have an idea of what reasons a series gets put under the Funimation Essentials line. Like, is it like their Classics line that was for more popular shows, or SAVE that was for series that seemed to underperform a bit/coming up on their rights expiring for it. I'm just curious because I bought Tsukigakure Essentials and it would honestly make me pretty upset if it fell into the latter category lol.

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i would assume it's just reprinting the series once the original print has run out and they've had some demand for a while from people that were unable to find the original release or in some cases an excuse to bundle both parts together

 

[Larsa]

Dorohedoro 2

this was really funny and just enjoyable. backgrounds still own. who doesn't want to be pummeled to death by noi? this is a pretty alright adaptation.

 

[Futabaisthebest<3]

Dorohedoro 2

this was really funny and just enjoyable. backgrounds still own. who doesn't want to be pummeled to death by noi? this is a pretty alright adaptation.

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what if I want to get pummel by her?

 

[Mars People]

Dorohedoro 2

this was really funny and just enjoyable. backgrounds still own. who doesn't want to be pummeled to death by noi? this is a pretty alright adaptation.

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The only show where someone can stick little mushroom stickers on their phone while someone else catches a brain in a cap.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Popping by to say the Keep Your Hands off Eizouken OP is fire. Carry on.

 

[Sterok]

Star Twinkle Precure 48

Because the Fuwa is going to die bomb was dropped on them too late, Hikaru wasn't able to let go of her, so Fuwa couldn't neutralize Ophiuchus, so she's still up. I blame the Princesses more than Hikaru honestly. So now the universe is consumed by black holes. That's kind of cool. And bleak. Everyone just flat out dies. Too bad Ophy doesn't get the chance to restart her art project before the Precure's remaining imagination let them power-up. Fight wasn't terrible, but for a season finale over the fate of the universe, it really wasn't all that special. Except Madoka's new bow. That was cool. What's with Star Twinkle and singing for its climaxes?

Alright, let me get this straight. Ophiuchus has been running around blowing up planets for who knows how long, formed an organization to conquer the universe, temporarily killed the universe, doesn't apologize or show any remorse when she's beaten, and yet is still deliberately spared by the Precure? And everyone just kind of lets her run off? I can kind of accept the Princesses welcoming her back because the morality of gods is fickle, but good lord the attempted forgiveness and not letting the Precure have any blood on their hands is beyond ridiculous. She flat out says she's going to do it all over again next time the universe's imagination gets too twisted for her liking. The Notrayders are ostensibly going to be hunting her for revenge, but who knows how that will turn out. Feels like a bad parody of the usual forgiveness tropes.

Of course Fuwa has to be revived even if it costs them their Precure powers. Don't even get convenient warps out of it. Haha, the Princesses were worthless for fixing Planet Rainbow all along, so Yuni and Ayewon are going to have to figure it out themselves. I called it, but I didn't really think they would actually do it. Really don't care for the goodbyes and separation endings in Precure anymore, especially since we know it won't stick due to All Stars being a thing. I have a very hard time believing it will match what Maho did either. At least Lala speaking Japanese on her own was cute. Not the worst finale, but definitely in the bottom half.

 

[Lord Arcadio]

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

51 episodes in less than a week. Feels like my head is gonna explode like Scar's victims.

But damn that was good. I didn't know much about the show going in other than that FMA is very popular as well as the whole situation with the adaptations. It's a good thing I didn't skip this in favor of only watching Brotherhood. I was expecting a typical battle shounen, but I got a slow-paced story that did a lot of reflection on the nature of humanity. The second half wasn't worse than the first half and if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't be able to tell that it was anime original.

I'll watch the movie soon, but I'm gonna need to watch something else before moving on to Brotherhood. I've had so much FMA in a short amount of time.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Uchitama Episode 1

Tora is my favorite in the cast, also every time he climbs to high places. lol.

Waiha one was fun, though got me thinking, i cant imagine how one would show up to a mechanic with a cat stuck under the hood.

 

[Deleted member 18823]

Magia Record | 3

Damn, look who's back!

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Uchitama Episode 2

Bull is great and I loved his song. Also Tama chasing his tail in the human form, lol.

 

[nintendoman58]

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Hyyyyyyyyype :D

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Stars Align Episode 12 EngDub

Wish the soft tennis matches here didnt use the "throw opponents off their game" tactic yet again, could have been done differently to make the game not feel less excited than previous games. Maybe this could have been a bit more exciting if the Itsuse Brothers had some backstory to tell us why they wanted to win that much.

Also the coach for Shijo Minami was like there are no stakes here to fight this hard? What?

Also why so many still shots, panning shots, and like shot where people are just standing there doing nothing.

---

Will just ignore and imagine the show ended with the results and the phone call and knife buying never happened. Weird place to end an anime otherwise. Hope MakiMaki goes through with it, sorta same way Toi went through with his thing and goes to youth detention in sarazanmai. Am wondering what damage control Ryoma did...

 

[Lord Arcadio]

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa

And now 2003 is done. I enjoyed the movie. Not really the direction I expected after episode 51's ending though. I think I preferred the show ending.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

Stars Align Episode 12 EngDub

Wish the soft tennis matches here didnt use the "throw opponents off their game" tactic yet again, could have been done differently to make the game not feel less excited than previous games. Maybe this could have been a bit more exciting if the Itsuse Brothers had some backstory to tell us why they wanted to win that much.

Also the coach for Shijo Minami was like there are no stakes here to fight this hard? What?

Also why so many still shots, panning shots, and like shot where people are just standing there doing nothing.

---

Will just ignore and imagine the show ended with the results and the phone call and knife buying never happened. Weird place to end an anime otherwise. Hope MakiMaki goes through with it, sorta same way Toi went through with his thing and goes to youth detention in sarazanmai. Am wondering what damage control Ryoma did...

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It pains me not to know how this ends, there's clearly a vision in this and it just left me so empty.

 

[zulux21]

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

51 episodes in less than a week. Feels like my head is gonna explode like Scar's victims.

But damn that was good. I didn't know much about the show going in other than that FMA is very popular as well as the whole situation with the adaptations. It's a good thing I didn't skip this in favor of only watching Brotherhood. I was expecting a typical battle shounen, but I got a slow-paced story that did a lot of reflection on the nature of humanity. The second half wasn't worse than the first half and if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't be able to tell that it was anime original.

I'll watch the movie soon, but I'm gonna need to watch something else before moving on to Brotherhood. I've had so much FMA in a short amount of time.

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2003 is still a very solid series. It's usually only when a person comes in and says "I only want to watch one" that most people say to just watch brotherhood instead since it's more faithful to the manga and most people find it to be even more enjoyable. Both are totally worth the watch though.

 

[pbayne]

Granblem End

Really dissapointed with this one. It started to get shaky with Anna's arc(who is just such a tedious character overall). Suisho kind of picked things up towards the end but nah couldn't save it.

Shame i found myself really wanting to like it too .

 

[NSESN]

Haikyuu S4-E2
Damn they went really hard on Hinata this episode.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Darwins Game Episode 1 EngDub

oops didnt realize this was a double length episode.

Was surprised the male best friend died like that, especially since I thought he was the one in the main visual. Sad.

Oh well, seeing this manga adapted to anime was great and is just as exciting as I always felt.

 

[DNAbro]

A Destructive God Sits Next To Me 2

Okay this is really funny. The increasingly threatening texts and the "Married Mom Dating" sim were hilarious.

 

[SolidSnakeBoy]

A Destructive God Sits Next To Me 2

Okay this is really funny. The increasingly threatening texts and the "Married Mom Dating" sim were hilarious.

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Yeah this show really is a blast. I can't tell what this main character's deal is? He doesn't care for Miguel and yet he kind of gets bothered if he ignores it. Their teacher is also just adding to the flames of my intrigue. I wish the show had a narrative but it's definitely going for the Haven't You Heard I'm Sakemoto approach.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Kabukicho Episode 11 EndDub

Wow, crying so much for Moriarty, father out to kill him, sister, killed and womb ate by jack the ripper and having to confront the non remorseful killer, so intense.

 

[daveo42]

Eizouken 3
It's been a long time since I've had this much fun just watching a show. Seems like with guidelines in place we will see progression to an animation project, that is if they can keep from being distracted every two seconds.

 

[Grexeno]

Eizouken 3
It's been a long time since I've had this much fun just watching a show. Seems like with guidelines in place we will see progression to an animation project, that is if they can keep from being distracted every two seconds.

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They've already fucked up by making it way too ambitious. :p

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Kabukicho Episode 12 EngDub

Yoshio being the Captain stand-in was awesome, best boy after the captain himself.

I'm sad Moriarty has to now just see in jail until whenever, but with that creepy dude across from him I guess he will have some additional role. Dont know what Sherlock was getting at with the why would Moriarty kill the dude that killed his own sister and was acting as a pawn to his father who was out to kill him.

 

[pbayne]

Happy Sugar Life 6

Everyone in this show should be on some kind of list.

 

[phaze]

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

51 episodes in less than a week. Feels like my head is gonna explode like Scar's victims.

But damn that was good. I didn't know much about the show going in other than that FMA is very popular as well as the whole situation with the adaptations. It's a good thing I didn't skip this in favor of only watching Brotherhood. I was expecting a typical battle shounen, but I got a slow-paced story that did a lot of reflection on the nature of humanity. The second half wasn't worse than the first half and if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't be able to tell that it was anime original.

I'll watch the movie soon, but I'm gonna need to watch something else before moving on to Brotherhood. I've had so much FMA in a short amount of time.

Click to shrink...

Damn, you blasted right through it.

 

[KCS]

Click to shrink...

I wonder if they'll finally do the right thing and give us Nanoha and Fate's Middle School/High school years.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Kono Oto Tomare Sounds of Life Episode s2 ep12 EngDub

Tenkyu was amazing, well worth it and glad they played the whole thing. Mr. Takaname's line was great too.

 

[Cornbread78]

Damn, you blasted right through it.

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I remember when I was like that, lol

 

[Cornbread78]

BTW, I'm only about 40% through Death Note and am I the only one that thinks it tries too hard to be do witty/edgy with the Light/L dynamic?

 

[Hypron]

Not watching a lot this season... I'm just finishing up Radiant (the animation quality in the last ep was dreadful though, hopefully it's because they're saving up for the next few episodes) from last season, and I started Dorohedoro which seems interesting. I'll check out the last season of Haikyuu at some point too.

Otherwise,



So happy this is finally getting a wide release (on February first) :D. I've been waiting for it for literally years

 

[Shard Shinjuku]

Eazy Breezy Episode 3:

I think we need to introduce Ritalin to at least two members of the Eizouken just so then can be on task for more then 5 seconds.