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AduroT wrote:Never seen either of those series.

Shirobako is a workplace comedy/drama series, but the workplace is an anime studio. So you get real life industry cameos/parodies like these (don't read too much of the text, it contains tiny spoilers). You don't need to know about the industry to enjoy the series and in the beginning it kinda overwhelms you by dumping a ton of characters, names, and jobs in front of your (same as the main character) but it's a really great series and you soon get used to the big cast. And the last episodes hit you hard.

Princess Principal is a series about "cute girls do spy things" set in a 19th century steampunk London-like environment. The series doesn't just blindly follow tropes and archetypes so you also get nice surprises now and then. It's also told out of chronological order so that might be a bit confusing from one episode to another. But the series is much better than what one would expect at first sight or from reading about it. It's worth watching if you have some downtime (12 episodes in total and that's it… for now).

No Franx this week? Is it just taking a week off or was the previous episode a season finale?

It's Golden Week so there's a break. I think they did broadcast some sort of "making of" with interviews (creators and cast). If I remember correctly the series will have 24 or 25 episodes in total.

Also what’s the deal with FLCL? They had the one episode a couple/few weeks ago but nothing since.

I don't t know, I think that was kinda like a preview and the full season will come later this year.

CREEEEEEEEED wrote:Also I binged my way through all of my hero academia last week. No regrets.

There's always the manga if you want to know more. There's also this (The song "You Say Run" on top of scenes from other anime, it's that one song)

MHA is the one to replace Naruto in the Big Three, I'd say.

One Piece is, of course, the anchor- unchanging, neverending.

I think the various Trigger and Fate series are filling the void that Bleach left.

But MHA has the chops to go all-the-way, I think, if handled correctly. Especially considering that it's a fantastic Superhero series in general, not just for anime.

Both Shirobako and Princess Principal are fantastic shows. Shirobako is something I would consider one of the definitive "must watch" shows for anyone with even a passing interest in anime.

Just found this for Shirobako references (mildest of spoilers): https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2018/04/30/shirobakos-secrets-the-most-deliberate-anime-industry-references/

And I started watching Haikyuu!!. It's really good. I occasionally played a bit of volleyball in high school but don't really have an interest in the sport but they make it look so fun and intense. The animation is nice, a match doesn't drag over a dozen episodes, and the characters are well rounded (and not just pure clichés). I can't stop binging episode after episode.

Who’s watching Tokyo Ghoul? I rather quite enjoyed the first two seasons of the show, but this third one is... not good. Is that just me?

Yeah, its pretty jank.
At least they remembered they have guns this time. Not sure why they didn't give everyone a gun instead of charging into a blender, but anime gonna anime I guess.

So I finished the third season of Haikyuu!! over the weekend. Technically it's a sports series but it's even better than all the praise makes it out to be. I can highly recommend it to anyone, even if you have no idea about volleyball. It has action, drama, comedy, suspense and how the team gets better does's feel like they are collecting convoluted superpowers. The directing/cinematography/animation is excellent and they have some great moments that use visual metaphors. The artist for the original manga apparently made a horror manga before that so there are some really great derp faces involved all through the series. It would be worth it just for those alone. Here're some examples from Tanaka in the first few episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQfSfrN6FFs


On top of that the characters are all great. Some get more development, others a bit less, some get their development surprisingly late but the payoff is sooo good. There are some you hate at the start but who get explored and you end up liking them. And you also sympathise with minor opposing teams that barely get two episodes of development. That series is great for anyone and not just sports fans. If you haven't seen it do yourself a favour and start watching it (no matter how sceptical you are about the whole premise). I was hooked from the first episode but if you are undecided after the ninth episode then you probably just have no soul, that's how good it is.


And Hinamatsuri is still awesome without slowing down. It's a really great funny/strange slice of life series.

Wait, is Hinata a gender-neutral name in Japanese? Like Ichigo?

Is it like "Sam" or "Alex"? Is Naruto's wife named their equivalent of "Chris"?

Anvildude wrote:
Wait, is Hinata a gender-neutral name in Japanese? Like Ichigo?

Is it like "Sam" or "Alex"? Is Naruto's wife named their equivalent of "Chris"?

I don't know much about Japanese but I think they are all technically gender neutral (just not all used by all genders to the same degree).

I'm guess that's in relation to Haikyuu? For Hinata Hyuuga, Hinata is her first name but in Haikyuu Shouyou Hinata's case Hinata is the last/family name of the character. From the Haikyuu wiki (http://haikyuu.wikia.com/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_Hinata):

Nomenclature
Shōyō (翔陽) can be read as "flying heaven".
However, "yō" also has different meanings: "sunshine, yang principle, positive, male, heaven, or daytime".
His family name Hinata (日向) can be read as "place in the sun".
Hina (雛) also mean a chick or a baby bird, which is alluding to him being a baby crow (hina garasu).
His first name’s kanji 日 means day in Japanese

There's another point I forgot to mention in my last post, the sound (all of it):
* The sound effects are really good. From the squeaking of the sneakers on the floor, hitting the ball, funny sounds in humorous moments. It's all well made and when they play it sounds really satisfying.
* Music: The soundtrack was composed by Yuki Hayashi who also made the soundtrack for My Hero Academia. It's also really good and fits the series. There's nothing exactly like BNHA's "You Say Run" but there other memorable tracks… although somebody did a Haikyuu version of 'You Say Run' Goes With Everything and it's maybe even better than the original soundtrack for that moment but watch it at your own risk (it's laid over a scene from the third season so it spoils some stuff if you haven't watched it yet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKvaEpkQv1g
* The voice actors. There's also a My Hero Academia connection (at least in the Japanese version). The VA's of Iida, Bakugo, and Todoroki voice characters in Haikyuu. I think there are some more but those were the ones I remember.

Mario wrote:
And Hinamatsuri is still awesome without slowing down. It's a really great funny/strange slice of life series.

Started watching this one after someone recommended it and yes, it is surprisingly good.

When Ikuno slapped that blond arsehole, I was all 'hit him again!' What a hateable character.

Man, how concerned should we be for Gun Gale that they’re doing a recap episode after only five episodes?

 AduroT wrote:
Man, how concerned should we be for Gun Gale that they’re doing a recap episode after only five episodes?

It's Sword Art Online, did you expect anything less?

Saw the Heaven's Feel dub in theater.

My only complaint is

It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, and Christina Vee nailed the role in my opinion.

Anything out currently in the AoT/IronBloodedOrphans/Kabaneri/etc vein that I may have missed? Having trouble finding something new currently.

 Vaktathi wrote:
Anything out currently in the AoT/IronBloodedOrphans/Kabaneri/etc vein that I may have missed? Having trouble finding something new currently.

I don't think there's something exactly like that in the current airing seasonal series but here are some that might fit adjacent interests (action, shounen, maybe mecha). I don't know what you have watched so it's a bit random, hoping that something sticks:

* There's a remake of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I think the original were OVAs that were based on a (series of) book(s) and is supposedly really good. Space battle, politics and so on. I have only watched the first few episodes (no time) but it was fun. In comparison to IBO there are no mecha (yet) but space battles and more politics. The animation and other production values are okay to good (it felt not bad to me just a bit flat in a way).

* Megalo Box, is a futuristic remake/reinterpretation of Ashita no Joe. I haven't seen the original and have only seen two episodes of Megalo Box. It's animated in a deliberate rougher style (some people complained about the "low quality") but I like it. Visually It feels like Cowboy Bebop (not art direction, just visual style). From what I have seen it looks good with a fun story and the soundtrack is great (I really like the ED).

* Boku No Hero Academia season 3 is still going (climatic moment last/next episode). It doesn't fit your mentioned series exactly but it's a very well constructed shounen series. If you haven't seen it then starting at season one should give something to watch.

* Hinamatsuri doesn't fit with your criteria at all but everybody should watch a few episodes (until it reels you in). It's just a really good series

* Darling in the FranXX is a collaboration of old Gainax friends and contains mecha. It starts rather odd, gets better, and then gets odd in a different way. But even so, it's not exactly like the IBO. That both series have mecha is more or less what they have in common.


Here are some older series that also might be somewhat fitting in the criteria (in a rather loose sense as they are either mecha or shounen based ):

* Eureka Seven: It combines mecha with surf culture (kinda?), environmentalism, conflicts, and other odd bits and pieces. Really good

* Haikyuu!!: It's technically a sports anime and some people might write it off based on that alone but that would be a huge mistake. It has everything: action, comedy, drama, suspense, really good production values, addictiveness, and some really great character development. I ignored the series for a long time because it's a "sports anime" and really didn't want to watch something like that. That was a big mistake. Haikyuu!! is really good and for me it's in the group of top series where each has its own special something that makes put it there. I'm now in a position where I also read the manga and am now waiting for an announcement of the next season in a year or two (the director is currently working on 50 episodes something else)

* Space☆Dandy, he's a dandy guy… in space. It's fun, strange, odd, with aliens and odd stories in space. Each episode has a different director so it oscillates between different moods from one episode to another but the series is really great. It might take some time until it syncs with you but it's worth watching a few episodes while being a bit confused.

Darling is so very strange. It's like they combined Evangelion, Eureka 7, and Pacific Rim. Oh, and the British Boarding School Genre, a little.

Gracias for the list Mario, Ill look into those. Ive seen Space Dandy and absolutely loved that.

Megalo Box is one of my personal picks of the season, really enjoying it so far. The story is a tad predictable, but it has some good fights in there.

Also really like Fumikiri Jikan, it's short format is excellently used to tell hilarious short stories, last one had some proper feels even.

Golden Kamuy has been disappointing. Not so much the story, but rather the cheap and wooden animation. Damned shame.

That reminds me, what the feth happened in the most recent DitF episode? Just completely out of nowhere.

That was indeed rather sudden.

CREEEEEEEEED wrote:That reminds me, what the feth happened in the most recent DitF episode? Just completely out of nowhere.

AduroT wrote:That was indeed rather sudden.

They pulled a TTGL

They lost me with the last episode of Darling in the Franxx. Really enjoyed the series up until then, but that was completely out of left field - and not in a good way.

Hero Academia is quite good. Enjoyable characters, good fights, don't see the superhero genre every day.

+1 the recommendation for Legend of Galactic Heroes. Especially if you like the space opera genre.

Hero Academia isn’t good. It’s gosh dang Amazing. Easily The best anime on tv right now, and definitely in my top five of all time.

 AduroT wrote:
Hero Academia isn’t good. It’s gosh dang Amazing. Easily The best anime on tv right now, and definitely in my top five of all time.

I was at a friend's today, first thing I did when getting back was sit down and watch today's episode. I ended up crying when they started cheering for All Might, even though I knew it was coming. I'm so glad I ended up doing as recommended and reading the manga, because it makes seeing it be animated just that much more special.

Ctaylor wrote:+1 the recommendation for Legend of Galactic Heroes. Especially if you like the space opera genre.

I hope you mean the original. The remake is Berserk levels of bad animation IMHO. It's trying to pull a Guilty Gear but not even trying to half arse it. 3D simply will never work as well as 2D.

AduroT wrote:Hero Academia isn’t good. It’s gosh dang Amazing. Easily The best anime on tv right now, and definitely in my top five of all time.

I tried watching MHA and I couldn't get into it. I know I'm not the target demographic, just my uhpunions.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ctaylor wrote:
They lost me with the last episode of Darling in the Franxx. Really enjoyed the series up until then, but that was completely out of left field - and not in a good way.

Agreed, I'll still watch the remaining episodes because Sunk Cost Fallacy, but it's going to have a hard time recovering.

So, yeah, it looks like FranXX is going to just copy the story beats of TTGL. Not necessarily a bad thing, but still...

Darling in the Franxx episode 23 was an utter mess. I've never seen a show implode quite as badly over just a couple of episodes. It's like the writers just gave up. Or were replaced at the last moment.

I will watch the last episode just to see if they can possibly screw it up any more than they already have. Because there is no way they can salvage it after the last couple of episodes.

 Ctaylor wrote:
Darling in the Franxx episode 23 was an utter mess. I've never seen a show implode quite as badly over just a couple of episodes. It's like the writers just gave up. Or were replaced at the last moment.

I will watch the last episode just to see if they can possibly screw it up any more than they already have. Because there is no way they can salvage it after the last couple of episodes.

Yeah, pretty much this. It's not as bad as some I have watched (iirc I've only ever quit an anime mid-season ONCE because it offended my delicate sensibilities too much) but it's still pretty bad.

Perhaps it's another Evangelion situation where they were coming to a deadline and they were like "Welp, nevermind"?

Aw... I'm sad to hear that. I'll still watch to the end, but I was hoping the whole thing would remain as intriguing as the start.