General anime thoughts/discussion thread.

@BrokenPhoenix have you seen Mix? I’ve only seen the first season and need to catch up on the second. I really enjoyed what I’ve seen. It’s the sequel to Touch (where some of the kids from that are the parents of the kids now, but you don’t need to have watched Touch).

Yes! That's the same author who did Cross Game and a bunch of other baseball stuff, isn't it. I love his work, his art style is very distinctive to me.
 
I largely agree, though I will defend some of the doomed princess shows for making the point that the villainess sometimes isn't that bad but gets treated worse than the male love interest guy who does really bad things but cuz he has a traumatic past (and perhaps is conventionally hot) gets to be a hero? And that's not me arguing that women never do really bad things! Just that I think it's worse to uhhh "r-word assault" someone, than to humiliate them in public a bit, not that either is good and not that all these shows are particularly well written or interesting. I miss the classic shoujo isekai such as Magic Knight Rayearth, Escaflowne, and The Twelve Kingdoms so much!

Do you have any more original ideas for anime that you would like to see made? (That's not a dig, I'm genuinely interested) :) I'm trying to think of an idea for an anime that offers something new or at least fairly new for anime (as in maybe something that's been done somewhat in western media but is not so common for anime) :)

I love Magic Knight Rayearth, especially that first opening theme and my favourite is Umi.

As for an anime idea, one I have been thinking about a lot lately is this:

A 42-year old woman named Keiko; single, has a good job, friends, but has never experienced love. It doesn't bother her at all but deep down, you can sense that it does.

Each day after work, she stops at her favourite cafe for a cappuccino, a slice of cake or vanilla slice and some reading then heads home. After dinner she writes her thoughts on the computer. This continues each day of the week, gets invited out for a relaxing night with friends on the weekend.

Then one day while sitting at the cafe, a senior high school student, a girl about 18 years, asks to sit at the table as all other seats are taken. But Keiko looks around, sees plenty of seats, mentions this just for the girl to say dismissively "Is there? There wasn't any a moment ago."

Each day after, the same thing. Soon, Keiko and the girl become close and over the course of the series, the two grow closer and Keiko finally admits the love she was missing in her life.
 
I feel you—sometimes a show just hits a wall. I actually dropped it after episode 5 myself. On the other hand, I’ve always admired how anime embraces grey-haired characters. I’m starting to get a few grey strands in my own hair, and I joke with my friends that I’m becoming a young, tanned version of an anime hero. My bushy eyebrows might not be quite Kenshiro-level, but they’re definitely their own kind of epic!
 
I'm thinking about getting into the Urusei Yatsura series, but I'm torn on which one to go for. I only watch anime on physical media and getting the OG series will cost quite a bit of money. The newer one has only been partially released on blu ray (the series only ended a few days ago).

The main reason to go for the newer one is that it's way more condensed without unnecessary filler. However, I've always really loved old school hand drawn anime and the OG series seems to have a lot more charm to it. The biggest downside of the OG Urusei Yatsura is that it's notorious for being very long with a lot of filler with almost 200 episodes, 6 movies and also a bunch of OVAs. Most of the series is relatively easy to get (only one movie is very expensive). I've seen many of the better scenes on Youtube of the old series which I really like, but I don't know if it's enough to go all in on this version.

So yeah, I haven't decided yet.
 
I'm thinking about getting into the Urusei Yatsura series, but I'm torn on which one to go for. I only watch anime on physical media and getting the OG series will cost quite a bit of money. The newer one has only been partially released on blu ray (the series only ended a few days ago).

The main reason to go for the newer one is that it's way more condensed without unnecessary filler. However, I've always really loved old school hand drawn anime and the OG series seems to have a lot more charm to it. The biggest downside of the OG Urusei Yatsura is that it's notorious for being very long with a lot of filler with almost 200 episodes, 6 movies and also a bunch of OVAs. Most of the series is relatively easy to get (only one movie is very expensive). I've seen many of the better scenes on Youtube of the old series which I really like, but I don't know if it's enough to go all in on this version.

So yeah, I haven't decided yet.

I got the OVAs and the five movies that MVM released here on DVD, and eventually imported Beautiful Dreamer on DVD from Discotek. And I've never felt the urge to get the TV series.
 
I'm thinking about getting into the Urusei Yatsura series, but I'm torn on which one to go for. I only watch anime on physical media and getting the OG series will cost quite a bit of money. The newer one has only been partially released on blu ray (the series only ended a few days ago).

The main reason to go for the newer one is that it's way more condensed without unnecessary filler. However, I've always really loved old school hand drawn anime and the OG series seems to have a lot more charm to it. The biggest downside of the OG Urusei Yatsura is that it's notorious for being very long with a lot of filler with almost 200 episodes, 6 movies and also a bunch of OVAs. Most of the series is relatively easy to get (only one movie is very expensive). I've seen many of the better scenes on Youtube of the old series which I really like, but I don't know if it's enough to go all in on this version.

So yeah, I haven't decided yet.
There's no easy answer because they're both great adaptations. Filler isn't really a factor since, like a lot of early Takahashi, Urusei Yatsura is purely episodic hijinks with no ongoing plot beyond the ever-expanding cast.

The original series starts strong, since the first few dozen episodes have two stories per episode, which is a good fit for the madcap pace of UY. There's an awkward transition period when it first switches to one story per episode, where some of them can feel a bit sluggish, but then another factor comes to the fore. UY is where Mamoru Oshii transforms from a solid director to the powerhouse he became in the late 80s and 90s. By around episode 70, he's injecting UY's innate weirdness with so much of his own distinctive style that there's nothing quite like it. The tone then abruptly shifts in the second half of the run as Studio Deen take over, making for a more melancholy and sentimental take on the material that still works well.

The new adaptation cherry-picks popular stories and presents them two per episode in the format that works so well. It's also apparently more faithful to the manga, which would be a plus for most shows, but in this case it depends how you end up feeling about what Oshii &Co brought to the table (eg. A massively increased role for Lum's self-appointed stormtroopers/fan club).
 
Random thought alert

Rewatching Demon Slayer as Crunchyroll now has season 4 dub.
Thought 1: I wondered what the demons smell like, to Tanjiro. He describes it as unpleasant and the upper 12 kizuki seem to be particularly potent.

Thought 2 with history: I am a country mouse. I was born literally in the countryside (mum didn't hold with hospital for childbirth) and all the smells that go with it.
These recent times have brought forth the use of 'natural' fertilisers that smell for many weeks rather than 24-48 hr manure. Despite my 45 years on this earth living in the near vicinity of agriculture, and working in animal care for two decades, I can NOT inhale these modern olfactory assaults without calling upon whatever deity may control this to please release me from this onslaught upon my nasal passages, nay, my very soul.
There is a pile a couple of miles down the road that smells like all the fish were smoked in diarrhoea, went bad and began to rot alongside corpses that died from being drowned in unwell, typhoid-laden sewage. It hits the back of the throat and we are well into week 2 of the stench. It is what I imagine hell smells like, possibly worse as I don't think even satan himself could be this cruel.

Thought 3: I now know what the upper class demons smell like to Tanjiro and why he gets so angry when fighting. I would not like to try total concentration breathing around that in case it permeates my very cells.

That is all.
 
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Random thought alert

Rewatching Demon Slayer as Crunchyroll now has season 4 dub.
Thought 1: I wondered what the demons smell like, to Tanjiro. He describes it as unpleasant and the upper 12 kizuki seem to be particularly potent.

Thought 2 with history: I am a country mouse. I was born literally in the countryside (mum didn't hold with hospital for childbirth) and all the smells that go with it.
These recent times have brought forth the use of 'natural' fertilisers that smell for many weeks rather than 24-48 hr manure. Despite my 45 years on this earth living in the near vicinity of agriculture, and working in animal care for two decades, I can NOT inhale these modern olfactory assaults without calling upon whatever deity may control this to please release me from this onslaught upon my nasal passages, nay, my very soul.
There is a pile a couple of miles down the road that smells like all the fish were smoked in diarrhoea, went bad and began to rot alongside corpses that died from being drowned in unwell, typhoid-laden sewage. It hits the back of the throat and we are well into week 2 of the stench. It is what I imagine hell smells like, possibly worse as I don't think even satan himself could be this cruel.

Thought 3: I now know what the upper class demons smell like to Tanjiro and why he gets so angry when fighting. I would not like to try total concentration breathing around that in case it permeates my very cells.

That is all.
🤣🤣🤣

You have my sympathies dear sir, and there is no way someone would not empathize with you (and Tanjiro - total concentration breathing hah!) following that "vivid" olfactory description.
 
These recent times have brought forth the use of 'natural' fertilisers that smell for many weeks rather than 24-48 hr manure. Despite my 45 years on this earth living in the near vicinity of agriculture, and working in animal care for two decades, I can NOT inhale these modern olfactory assaults without calling upon whatever deity may control this to please release me from this onslaught upon my nasal passages, nay, my very soul.
There is a pile a couple of miles down the road that smells like all the fish were smoked in diarrhoea, went bad and began to rot alongside corpses that died from being drowned in unwell, typhoid-laden sewage. It hits the back of the throat and we are well into week 2 of the stench. It is what I imagine hell smells like, possibly worse as I don't think even satan himself could be this cruel.

Haha, I've lived all my life in the country with farm fields all around, so well over 60 years now, but fortunately I have not had the enjoyment of experiencing any of that 'natural' fertilizer you refer too, they evidently don't need to use that around here - we have nothing but dairy, chicken and hog farms all over this area that generate an abundance of manure that gets spread over every square inch of farmland, with lots left over - so I've certainly gotten used to the smell of most manure after all this time. Cow manure almost smells sweet to me, the chicken manure is a bit pungent, but the hog manure is the worst offender you can't easily get used to. When I was a teenager we had a white German Shepherd that, right after getting her bath, would get mad at us and dash out into the farm field directly behind our yard and roll around in the freshly spread chicken manure, just for spite, lol.
 
Haha, I've lived all my life in the country with farm fields all around, so well over 60 years now, but fortunately I have not had the enjoyment of experiencing any of that 'natural' fertilizer you refer too, they evidently don't need to use that around here - we have nothing but dairy, chicken and hog farms all over this area that generate an abundance of manure that gets spread over every square inch of farmland, with lots left over - so I've certainly gotten used to the smell of most manure after all this time. Cow manure almost smells sweet to me, the chicken manure is a bit pungent, but the hog manure is the worst offender you can't easily get used to. When I was a teenager we had a white German Shepherd that, right after getting her bath, would get mad at us and dash out into the farm field directly behind our yard and roll around in the freshly spread chicken manure, just for spite, lol.
This is the thing, if it was regular animal poop it is a bit stinky but only lasts a day or so. But THIS. There is something almost industrial smelling about it. I fear it is likely a synthesised treatment with added preservatives to keep that fishy demonic odour fresh and tasty for many weeks 🤢
 
What I've been wondering is why dub actresses are sometimes credited with a name other than their own?

For example, in Why The Hell Are You Here Teacher?!, one of the teachers sounds remarkably like Allison Sumrall but someone else is credited for the role.

Plus, in Yurikuma Arashi, Lindsay Seidel is credited as someone else.
 
What I've been wondering is why dub actresses are sometimes credited with a name other than their own?

For example, in Why The Hell Are You Here Teacher?!, one of the teachers sounds remarkably like Allison Sumrall but someone else is credited for the role.

Plus, in Yurikuma Arashi, Lindsay Seidel is credited as someone else.
It's pretty common for voice actors to use pseudonyms to distance themselves from roles they consider embarrassing or beneath them, which definitely fits the description of Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher?!

In the early days of anime dubs during the 90s, it wasn't unusual for voice actors to use pseudonyms when working on any anime, since all the blood-and-boobs OAVs of that era gave anime a murky reputation in general.
 
It's pretty common for voice actors to use pseudonyms to distance themselves from roles they consider embarrassing or beneath them, which definitely fits the description of Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher?!

In the early days of anime dubs during the 90s, it wasn't unusual for voice actors to use pseudonyms when working on any anime, since all the blood-and-boobs OAVs of that era gave anime a murky reputation in general.
Also commonly used when union actors take non-union roles.
 
It's pretty common for voice actors to use pseudonyms to distance themselves from roles they consider embarrassing or beneath them, which definitely fits the description of Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher?!

In the early days of anime dubs during the 90s, it wasn't unusual for voice actors to use pseudonyms when working on any anime, since all the blood-and-boobs OAVs of that era gave anime a murky reputation in general.
That does make me laugh, even though you're right.
One of my favourite extras is on Aika R-16. The 3 main stars do a fairly long interview about the show and their characters and even talk about how others thought they should feel about the role. Very enjoyable.
As Mamiko Noto says it's about panties. Lots and lots of panties.
 
One of the heads fell off my Fullmetal Alchemist resin gate. EIght years it remained a pristine dust magnet, then it must have got knocked somehow, and one of my tortured souls got decaptitated. Alchemical circles don't work in this world, and superglue isn't exactly a perfect repair.

Boo hoo hoo! Woe is me.

Edit: I knew I should have kept in the box and never ever looked at it. That's the way to enjoy a purchase!
 
My FMA resin gate is sitting exposed on the top shelf of an Ikea bookshelf unit, but it's up high enough that nothing should disturb it. The shelf unit is in my dining room, and not in my basement movie theater area where all my Blu-ray shelves are. I use the deep shelves on the Ikea bookshelf for oversized Ultimate Editions, NISA premium sets, some big DVD box sets, anime art books and magazines, and plastic tubs of anime swag. My elderly mother who lives with me has some framed photos and knickknacks of hers sitting on the other shelves in front of my anime stuff to hide it a bit from visitors, but she is only 4' 11" (150cm) tall, so she can't reach that top shelf, fortunately. LOL!
 
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