Hey, I've been watching stuff from Japan!
Yeah, so I still haven't a clue of what shows I'll even try this season except for a couple that are a MUST. Which ones? You'll see below, although this is mostly a GIF review of things from last season (or a previous season, period).
Inside:
- Oh right, Persona 4: The Animation ended... kinda.
- Polar bears, pandas, and penguins! Oh my!
- And a lot of baths were given that da-- I mean, century.
- My lesbian crush on King Arthur, in the middle of political magic duels.
Semi-final thoughts on P4A
See, there are a lot of stuff where the adaptation fails, including a rushed pacing, limited character development for some of them because of time, and the utter abomination that was Yu's homophobia when Kanji was a newcomer. Actually, what baffles me the most about the handwave lately, when Yu seems to be way more chill about subtext and queer behavior, and no one in the team seems to remember how hurtful he was in that one episode. Did he ever apologize? Is it a change of writers? Is it a consequence of increasing Understanding, etc.? Is it Teddie's childlike fabulousness? I have no clue.
But regardless of the flaws, I looked forward to every episode every week, and it's not too horrible for an adaptation if it wasn't for the homophobic episodes. Of course, this is YMMV as the problematic character is the protagonist, and I understand why many fans would drop it like it's hot. Then again, I kept watching because anime!Teddie was ridiculously cute and Paku Romi's voice on Naoto is unf.
Favorite character in the anime? Teddie's sparkles, who have a life on their own and get a bigger role. Teddie is the second, Nanako the third (her filler cosplaying a mahou shoujo detective is diabetes inducing!)
LOL, now to wait for August or something for the True End. Fucking trolls :'D
Shirakuma Cafe (Polar Bear Cafe)
IDK, someone showed me a lot of gifs of a NEET panda arguing with his mother, and I had to watch that because it was a very cracky premise. Turns out this anime just started now, and it's several kinds of KAWAII DESU and like it was made for me.
Like I said, there's a lazy fail panda who's also extremely cute despite being annoying and infuriating when you think about it. I love pandas but wait, there's more! The title character is a fantastic deadpan polar bear with a weird sense of humor, and there's an emperor (or is it king?) penguin in the main cast.
YOU GUYS. YOU GUYS. THREE OF MY FAVORITE ANIMALS DOING ANTHROPOMORPHIC SHIT. Also, the seiyuu are just. I can't, really. It's true what they say that the puns aren't really that funny because it's too Japanese, but I like the inherent surreal and illogical humor on this. I didn't find it slow at all for my taste. It also goes to show that the only way I can like a slice of life is if the situation is really original or cracktacular. Plus, the animation is really colorful and stuff.
Thermae Romae
Which might as well be called "A Splash of Cultural Clash" or "this is what happened when a mangaka was reading about public baths in Ancient Rome and noticed it sounded kinda like Japan's". It's a short one, just 6 short episodes, and it's very what the hell did I just watch. Lucius is a Roman architect specialized in baths who can kinda accidentally travel (a la Yuuri Shibuya) to modern Japan, and it's conveniently always when he's stuck in a project. Then he gets traumatized by how advanced this strange race of people are when it comes to bathing, and then tries to copy everything he saw in those few minutes -because he's from Rome, and that's their style.
It was enjoyable in its WTF. And while he can get a little racist sometimes -and assumed they were slaves in his first trip-, he still respects/envies the Japanese and can enjoy his time there. I have no idea how historically inaccurate this shit is, but it's just so weird I don't care.
Fate/Zero
I once tried the first two episodes of Stay Night. The characters didn't grab me. This was the opposite and I was sold before the first episode ended. And that was the "most boring" one! I marathoned the first season, and today I finished it and got updated with the second. So anyway, what is this about? Unlike F/SN which is eroge moe fodder, this anime is a nice seinen all about...
A bunch of mages from around the world enter this tournament to get the Holy Grail, which will grant them a wish and give glory to their clans. But the way they (mostly and very loosely) fight is through a Persona Servant, which is kind of the soul of a historical/mythical figure they invoked as a partner. The Servants also get their Grail wish, of course. This is a pretty neat anime to me, mostly because there's a lot of intrigue and politics and espionage and character introspection, which I like seeing in a fantasy action show. Swashbuckling and magic spells and guns and pretty faces are nice, and we have aplenty of those, but F/Z is more complex than that. It's not a lovely battle, there are all kinds of Master/Servant relations, and the most civil person is not going to win this Battle Royale with Cheese. The characters are really interesting too.
I'm totally Team Saber (sigh, stupid sexy Saber and my pings for noble monarchs... plus I also want Irisviel to be happy). On the other hand, I also love the dynamics of Rider and Waver; I'm always smiling at their parts.
Now, can we please move on with the Lovecraftian Horror Boss Fight? It's been like two episodes and it's getting boring! D:
Inside:
- Oh right, Persona 4: The Animation ended... kinda.
- Polar bears, pandas, and penguins! Oh my!
- And a lot of baths were given that da-- I mean, century.
- My lesbian crush on King Arthur, in the middle of political magic duels.
Semi-final thoughts on P4A
See, there are a lot of stuff where the adaptation fails, including a rushed pacing, limited character development for some of them because of time, and the utter abomination that was Yu's homophobia when Kanji was a newcomer. Actually, what baffles me the most about the handwave lately, when Yu seems to be way more chill about subtext and queer behavior, and no one in the team seems to remember how hurtful he was in that one episode. Did he ever apologize? Is it a change of writers? Is it a consequence of increasing Understanding, etc.? Is it Teddie's childlike fabulousness? I have no clue.
But regardless of the flaws, I looked forward to every episode every week, and it's not too horrible for an adaptation if it wasn't for the homophobic episodes. Of course, this is YMMV as the problematic character is the protagonist, and I understand why many fans would drop it like it's hot. Then again, I kept watching because anime!Teddie was ridiculously cute and Paku Romi's voice on Naoto is unf.
Favorite character in the anime? Teddie's sparkles, who have a life on their own and get a bigger role. Teddie is the second, Nanako the third (her filler cosplaying a mahou shoujo detective is diabetes inducing!)
LOL, now to wait for August or something for the True End. Fucking trolls :'D
Shirakuma Cafe (Polar Bear Cafe)
IDK, someone showed me a lot of gifs of a NEET panda arguing with his mother, and I had to watch that because it was a very cracky premise. Turns out this anime just started now, and it's several kinds of KAWAII DESU and like it was made for me.
Like I said, there's a lazy fail panda who's also extremely cute despite being annoying and infuriating when you think about it. I love pandas but wait, there's more! The title character is a fantastic deadpan polar bear with a weird sense of humor, and there's an emperor (or is it king?) penguin in the main cast.
YOU GUYS. YOU GUYS. THREE OF MY FAVORITE ANIMALS DOING ANTHROPOMORPHIC SHIT. Also, the seiyuu are just. I can't, really. It's true what they say that the puns aren't really that funny because it's too Japanese, but I like the inherent surreal and illogical humor on this. I didn't find it slow at all for my taste. It also goes to show that the only way I can like a slice of life is if the situation is really original or cracktacular. Plus, the animation is really colorful and stuff.
Thermae Romae
Which might as well be called "A Splash of Cultural Clash" or "this is what happened when a mangaka was reading about public baths in Ancient Rome and noticed it sounded kinda like Japan's". It's a short one, just 6 short episodes, and it's very what the hell did I just watch. Lucius is a Roman architect specialized in baths who can kinda accidentally travel (a la Yuuri Shibuya) to modern Japan, and it's conveniently always when he's stuck in a project. Then he gets traumatized by how advanced this strange race of people are when it comes to bathing, and then tries to copy everything he saw in those few minutes -because he's from Rome, and that's their style.
It was enjoyable in its WTF. And while he can get a little racist sometimes -and assumed they were slaves in his first trip-, he still respects/envies the Japanese and can enjoy his time there. I have no idea how historically inaccurate this shit is, but it's just so weird I don't care.
Fate/Zero
I once tried the first two episodes of Stay Night. The characters didn't grab me. This was the opposite and I was sold before the first episode ended. And that was the "most boring" one! I marathoned the first season, and today I finished it and got updated with the second. So anyway, what is this about? Unlike F/SN which is eroge moe fodder, this anime is a nice seinen all about...
A bunch of mages from around the world enter this tournament to get the Holy Grail, which will grant them a wish and give glory to their clans. But the way they (mostly and very loosely) fight is through a Persona Servant, which is kind of the soul of a historical/mythical figure they invoked as a partner. The Servants also get their Grail wish, of course. This is a pretty neat anime to me, mostly because there's a lot of intrigue and politics and espionage and character introspection, which I like seeing in a fantasy action show. Swashbuckling and magic spells and guns and pretty faces are nice, and we have aplenty of those, but F/Z is more complex than that. It's not a lovely battle, there are all kinds of Master/Servant relations, and the most civil person is not going to win this Battle Royale with Cheese. The characters are really interesting too.
I'm totally Team Saber (sigh, stupid sexy Saber and my pings for noble monarchs... plus I also want Irisviel to be happy). On the other hand, I also love the dynamics of Rider and Waver; I'm always smiling at their parts.
Now, can we please move on with the Lovecraftian Horror Boss Fight? It's been like two episodes and it's getting boring! D: