Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)

[SckizoBoy]

Fruits Basket (2019) - updated more direct manga interpretation over the first adaptation way back when. Watching more anime now thanks to lockdown BS and not having watched anime in a big way for several years, so thought, why not. Heard about the re-do of Natsuki Takaya's magnum opus and given its reception, thought I'd give it a go.

It's not too bad. Being one of hit and miss memory, the voice acting took a while to get used to but it was pretty good on the whole, but Satomi Satou as Hanajima was a weird choice, given her role of choice is usually pretty tomboy-ish and rambunctious, but it grew on me and I liked her focus episodes. Values dissonance and changing tastes means that the series kind of makes Kagura look like an annoying *****, but they manage to make her barely tolerable somehow. Rie Kugimiya somehow... somehow doesn't make it worse. Miyuki Sawashiro as Kyoko was a bit of a surprise, but she does a good job and only rubs in the fact that I'm getting old.

Season 2 still being aired, so full judgement reserved until its ended.

 

[Kae]

The last thing I watched was an Anime called Yagate Kimi Ni Naru or Bloom Into You, it's interesting enough that I went and read the Manga afterwards and was still pleasantly surprised, though it's not finished yet, I'm very pleasantly surprised that the Manga continues until adulthood.

But anyway the Anime itself is a lesbian High School romance story, but it's surprisingly well written, the theme is basically that love isn't like in romance stories and how it's possible to fall in love over time rather than love at first sight, the protagonist Yuu in particular seems interesting to me because at first she appears incapable of feeling love at first, but part of it is because she thinks that she has to fall in love like characters do typically in Anime, like she's going to be swept off her feet by someone but that just doesn't happen, instead another girl (Touko) falls in love with her because she finds her lack of emotion very attractive & since Yuu is curious about love she indulges her despite not reciprocating her feelings and slowly realises that she fell in love with Touko and helps Touko grow since she actually is severely traumatised by the death of her sister.
In any case the characters are likeable and the themes are fairly interesting, in addition to that I found the anime to have fairly good direction and good acting, the main weakness is that it clearly didn't end so unless you're willing to read the manga the ending isn't satisfying, but the manga doesn't have an ending either, apparently there's going to be a 2nd Season but with what's going on who knows, I will say that I at least like where the Manga is going and it seems like they're willing to deal with the drama of coming out to your family which should be interesting.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The Night Manager

A BBC six-part miniseries based on the John Le Carré novel, starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Elizabeth Debicki and Olivia Colman (who's in everything apparently). I really enjoyed it. It's a fairly classy spy thriller, all about closed-door meetings, sneaking around hotel rooms, trading secrets, passing information in creatively stealthy ways, saying one thing but meaning another and pretending to speak to someone while talking to someone else. There's a good sense of danger and the stakes are high, but it's as far removed from the usual American action-adventure bastardization as possible.

And if there ever was a strong case for Hiddleston playing 007, this is it. He's suave, he's handsome, he makes everything look effortless and he can still enjoy himself while being earnest. He'd be a great Bond. For that matter Laurie would be a great Bond villain, and there're plenty of Bond level girls to go around.

 

[Dalisclock]

Yeah the first season of any show like this tends to be a bit rough and inconsistent compared to later seasons and even then I still kind of missed OG Holly even though every other aspect of the show had improved in Season 3.

The Actor apparently really didn't like the commute invovled in filming(IIRC, the show filmed in London and he lived way outside of London) so he opted not to come back for season 3.

 

[Chimpzy]

I'm watching some old Simpsons. Season 4 to be exact. Must be 20 years since I last saw these episodes. I forgot how good it could be. Shame it kind of became a shadow of itself in later years, a relic that only every so often reaches the highs of its heydays.

 

[Gordon_4]

I watched the NC review of Starchaser: Legend of Orin. Otherwise known as that cartoon that half filed the serial numbers off of Star Wars. I mean, the review is funny but I spent most of it being kind of awestruck by both the audacity of the ripoff AND all the ways where it could have been a rather fun adventure movie on its own merits.

 

[Hawki]

a relic that only every so often reaches the highs of its heydays.

Every so often?

Well, that's better than I expected.

 

[Breakdown]

I'm working my way through Batman: The Animated Series. Just watched the Two Face two parter. It's really dark stuff for a kid's cartoon.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Getting black into back mirror. Back into black mirror. And Dark. Some Netflix shite that don't seem too shite, as soon as the dubs were turned to subs at least. Melancholic sci-fi is a pleasant tuning fork to current emotions.

 

[BrawlMan]

Rewatching some old anime. Saw Tenchi Muyo OVA Season 1. It's great looking back at older anime. A good first season and laying the groundwork for the Tenchi franchise. I still consider it the best harem series in anime. Also, the original Tenchi had the best animation, aside from some of the movies. Tenchi Univese for me is still the best of the franchise. TU is a retelling of the original OVA, but with a complete story and new added characters. That said, there are things that the OVA has that universe has. Better villain (no one has yet topped the original Kagato), better animation (for the first season anyway), and the best anime opening of the franchise. I am working my way through OVA 2, and there is a drop in quality that is noticable. The 2nd season is still good, but not as good as the first. OVA 3 we do not talk about, OVA 4 never made is stateside, and OVA 5 is being made, but I stopped caring for the original OVA continuity since the 3rd. They can stop with the spin-offs and continuations, because they milked this franchise beyond dry. At least Universe contiunity had an definitive ending. Either with the last episode or the movie, Tenchi Forever.

The dubbing holds up well with a few misfires of the script. Otherwise, good job and give them some leeway. This was when anime shows were finally getting better dubs. Also, Ryoko is still best waifu from the 90s.

 

[Dalisclock]

Started watching Beastars on Netlfix. So far I'm digging it. It's like Zootopia but with a much narrower focus and a lot darker, or Bojack Horseman with all the wackiness removed and much more attention given to species differences(which was touched on in the show but mostly ignored the rest of the time).

The fact it's set in a high school, and particularly around drama club, should be two things that turn me the fuck off(I normally can't bring myself to care much about school settings, which was quite an impediment to me enjoying Harry Potter the way others do) and yet, it's working for me. The characterization helps a lot here, not to mention the sharp animation/art and good voice acting(I'm watching the dub, FWIW).

I'm curious to see where this is going(I've just finished ep 4) but the uncanny valley effect of how the characters are both human and very inhuman looking at the same time actually works in it's favor here.

 

[Buyetyen]

Started watching Beastars on Netlfix. So far I'm digging it. It's like Zootopia but with a much narrower focus and a lot darker, or Bojack Horseman with all the wackiness removed and much more attention given to species differences(which was touched on in the show but mostly ignored the rest of the time).

Furries and theater people. It's a perfect fit when you think about it. But yeah, it's a really good series. Looking forward to the next season.

Last movie I watched was Onward. I really liked it, thought it had a lot of heart. I like that they didn't go too far over the map with the gags and took the time to really get the most out of the ones they did use. The pixie bikers were great and the manticore was delightful. I called up my brother to wish him a happy birthday the other day and he mentioned he had just watched Onward as well and thought, "Oh, man... I should really call my brother."

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Started Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (2018). It's a one-off anthology series consisting of 10 episodes, each adapting a PKD short story. I guess it was doomed to be compared to Black Mirror from the get go, and unfairly so, since Black Mirror is essentially the TV answer to PKD's versatile bibliography. Like any other anthology series you get your good episodes, your middle of the road ones and your bad (or at least insipid) ones. But like I was saying, it suffers from being compared to all the things PKD has insipired for the past 40 years, to the point his signature philosophical quandaries have been worn out by easily digestible pop culture. So I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't a fan and doesn't want to see how the adaptation compares. To most people this is going to feel too derivative of the things it actually inspired, like Black Mirror. About the only thing it can claim as its own is a handsome A-lister cast: Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Anna Paquin, Terence Howard, Timothy Spall, Greg Kinnear, Vera Farmiga...

 

[Dalisclock]

Furries and theater people. It's a perfect fit when you think about it. But yeah, it's a really good series. Looking forward to the next season.

Last movie I watched was Onward. I really liked it, thought it had a lot of heart. I like that they didn't go too far over the map with the gags and took the time to really get the most out of the ones they did use. The pixie bikers were great and the manticore was delightful. I called up my brother to wish him a happy birthday the other day and he mentioned he had just watched Onward as well and thought, "Oh, man... I should really call my brother."

I liked Onward, even if the setting/premise was merely ok, the character dynamics(particularly between the bros) made the movie work.

 

[Trunkage]

Started Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (2018). It's a one-off anthology series consisting of 10 episodes, each adapting a PKD short story. I guess it was doomed to be compared to Black Mirror from the get go, and unfairly so, since Black Mirror is essentially the TV answer to PKD's versatile bibliography. Like any other anthology series you get your good episodes, your middle of the road ones and your bad (or at least insipid) ones. But like I was saying, it suffers from being compared to all the things PKD has insipired for the past 40 years, to the point his signature philosophical quandaries have been worn out by easily digestible pop culture. So I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't a fan and doesn't want to see how the adaptation compares. To most people this is going to feel too derivative of the things it actually inspired, like Black Mirror. About the only thing it can claim as its own is a handsome A-lister cast: Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Anna Paquin, Terence Howard, Timothy Spall, Greg Kinnear, Vera Farmiga...

I saw it on release. I cannot remember much about it. I saw Black Mirror on release. I remember almost all of season 1 and 2. I think that's because it had more to say. But, I think PKD has been mined far more frequently so they may not feel as fresh.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I saw it on release. I cannot remember much about it. I saw Black Mirror on release. I remember almost all of season 1 and 2. I think that's because it had more to say. But, I think PKD has been mined far more frequently so they may not feel as fresh.

I think it's a problem when every episode has to create a entire new future world for about 50 minutes. It turns the whole story into exposition and leaves little room for the characters to breathe in and the themes to sink in. Black Mirror will change maybe one thing about the real world, and sometimes not even that, which gives it a huge advantage. I think most of PKD's stories, though very conceptual, are better served as feature films. Case in point: Total Recall and Minority Report.

 

[Gordon_4]

I’m due for my regular rewatch of Phoenix (not related to XMen) so I’ll report back on it when I can.

As for the here and now, I was watching some of my favourite episodes of Archer - Los Scandolo; where the Italian PM is found murdered in Mallory’s apartment is a top 10 for me - and generally having a good old laugh.

 

[BrawlMan]

Finished re-watching The Big O. One of the best mech shows ever made from the late 90s/early 2000s. Roger is one of the coolest protagonist in anime, and Dorthy (who is an android) is one of ny favorite developed characters in anime. The show was obviously inspired by Batman the Animated Series. The same studio that worked on this, were contracted many times from WB to do several episodes. Definitely a great show from the Toonami/adult_swim era. I know the second season is love it or hate it for some, but overall they did a good job with the second season. I honestly don't see how they could explain that ending if a third season ever happened. I was and still am happy with the ending we got. Big O's ending is still better than Evangelion and it's numerous clones that came out around this time.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Homecoming (Season 2)

Premiered today. I liked the first season, which is essentially a different show. Season 2 ties in with some characters and plot threads but it's distinctly its own thing. It's very "mystery box" driven, for one thing. Season 1 was a bit more specific with its mystery and had a way of pointing the viewer in the right direction of questioning. Season 2 plays up how vague, cryptic and ominous it can get for as long as possible. Amazingly I even miss Julia Roberts. Something about a classy A-lister who knows how to immediately get your attention and carry whatever they're heading like it's no big deal. Season 2 lady isn't half-bad but it just isn't the same.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Recently saw the first season of Harley Quinn, and it surprised the hell out of me, not just by not being shit, but by actually being really fucking good. I was extremely hesitant initially since DC animation and the R-rating is a recipe for edgy garbage, but Harley Quinn doesn't take itself too serious so all the cusses and gore don't come across as an attempt to appear mature and serious within the superhero landscape.

More importantly though, the show is just really damn funny. I love how Commissioner Gordon is this strung out alchoholic due to all the shit he has to deal with in Gotham, and how he desperately wants to hang out and be pals with Batman, who brushes him off at every turn. Bane is fucking gold. And I'm in love with this version of Poison Ivy; just this sardonic mother hen. I kinda want Lake Bell to voice every female cartoon character now. And the relationship she establishes with Kite Man is just too precious.