The last thing we watched, cartoon/animu edition

bluegate

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Skip Love Hina, you are not missing much. It's very frustrating, and practically everything wrong with the harem genre. Tenchi, I recommend you watch the original OVA (episodes 1 through 12) and Tenchi Universe (an alternate universe TV series that is 26 episodes). Then watch the two movies, In Love and Forever (In Love 2) for a sense of finality. Those two movies take place after the end of Tenchi Universe. Should you choose to to do so of course.

And yes, the work culture in Japan is worse than you think or known so far.
Everything is wrong with the harem genre.
 

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Everything is wrong with the harem genre.
Not everything. It's a bit of a yes and no, depending on what anime or manga you are talking about. Say what you will about Tenchi, but at least they had characters that were more than two-dimensional stereotypes (other than Tenchi in Tokyo, but that's a different matter altogether), characters have relevance and agency, and most series kept it ambiguous who he would hook up with towards the end. Universe implies that he loves Ryoko. Love Hina ended up paving away for the worst. The problem with that show, is that a lot of the love interests were really unlikable and annoying. Naru being the worst of the worst obviously. And many other shows just copied it verbatim, or have a main mail protagonist that's so blank slate, that Tenchi ends up having more depth by comparison or more than all of them combined. I don't watch many harem shows to begin with, so so I can safely say I'm not missing much anyway. Once you've seen Tenchi, there is no reason to watch much else afterward. And Tenchi had its own screw-ups. The original OVA is still going and only got worse immediately when the third one started airing. They brought in more girls or different characters that didn't matter overall, and mess with the formula dynamic. They felt like fanfic characters. At a point when the series had lost its prime and luster. The original OVA is still ongoing by the way. Not to mention all the spin-off series that milked the franchise dry.

I'm sure there's some other decent harem shows out there, but I had no investment back then, I certainly have no investment now. I already got all that I need.
 

Bob_McMillan

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I really want to finish Jojo's part 4 so I can move on to the later ones, but Goddamn, every time I try to start up again it feels just too draggy for me. Maybe the playback speed button and I need to get reacquainted.
 

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I really want to finish Jojo's part 4 so I can move on to the later ones, but Goddamn, every time I try to start up again it feels just too draggy for me. Maybe the playback speed button and I need to get reacquainted.
I won't lie, I had a similar problem with part 4. As much as I like the cast of characters, does have a slow start and it takes awhile for things to get going. Not as bad as part 3, but still a problem. Part 5 and Part 6 have much better pacing. Especially part 5.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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I won't lie, I had a similar problem with part 4. As much as I like the cast of characters, does have a slow start and it takes awhile for things to get going. Not as bad as part 3, but still a problem. Part 5 and part 6 have much better pacing. Especially part 5.
Honestly I already know how part 4 ends after seeing dozens of clips on YouTube, so it's really more of the completionist in me.
 
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I watched New Cutie Honey again. It's the second time I've watched all eight episodes. I did so to get my self prepped up for the new series that came out a couple years ago. I'm going to order it later today.
 

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What the hell? I mean, I can't really judge the Japanese when far fewer arranged marriages end in divorce and meeting people is so difficult nowadays. But it's just funny to me that they treat it like job interviews.
 

meiam

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Not everything. It's a bit of a yes and no, depending on what anime or manga you are talking about. Say what you will about Tenchi, but at least they had characters that were more than two-dimensional stereotypes (other than Tenchi in Tokyo, but that's a different matter altogether), characters have relevance and agency, and most series kept it ambiguous who he would hook up with towards the end. Universe implies that he loves Ryoko. Love Hina ended up paving away for the worst. The problem with that show, is that a lot of the love interests were really unlikable and annoying. Naru being the worst of the worst obviously. And many other shows just copied it verbatim, or have a main mail protagonist that's so blank slate, that Tenchi ends up having more depth by comparison or more than all of them combined. I don't watch many harem shows to begin with, so so I can safely say I'm not missing much anyway. Once you've seen Tenchi, there is no reason to watch much else afterward. And Tenchi had its own screw-ups. The original OVA is still going and only got worse immediately when the third one started airing. They brought in more girls or different characters that didn't matter overall, and mess with the formula dynamic. They felt like fanfic characters. At a point when the series had lost its prime and luster. The original OVA is still ongoing by the way. Not to mention all the spin-off series that milked the franchise dry.

I'm sure there's some other decent harem shows out there, but I had no investment back then, I certainly have no investment now. I already got all that I need.
Naru is the worst part of love hina (well maybe tied for worse with Kotaro), but the rest of the girl were fun. I think you could repacked the show as a slice of life and it'd be great.

There's nowhere near as many harem show as they used to be (maybe 1 a season nowaday) but sadly this is because the harem aspect as been co opted by most other genre, almost every isekai has an harem nowaday (disgustingly many of them involved slave girl who "love" the main character and refuse to not be slave to him).
 
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Naru is the worst part of love hina (well maybe tied for worse with Kotaro), but the rest of the girl were fun. I
Nah, I consider her worst by default. I give Kotaro some leeway, but not all. The other characters were either indifference, somewhat liked, or tolerable. I know I was not a fan of Mitsune. Motoko I liked fine enough, but I am not going through all that again. I didn't even bother with any of the movies. Once I saw the series, that was it, no more. And even then, I barely finished the series.
 

Bob_McMillan

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Binged Part 4 and 5 of Jojo in a few days like a madman. I thought Part 4 was pretty fun for the most part, even though I didn't particularly like the asspull the villain had towards the end. His Stand was already ridiculously powerful, but I guess it was to tie into the idea of time manipulation being the apex of Stand abilities.

Part 5 I enjoyed more in general, because of the ridiculous characters and great performances from the VAs. So satisfying to hear people say BUCCIARATIIII!!! But I was a little miffed by the end. Besides Golden Wind Requiem being completely random, they wasted a whole two episodes, the last ones, on that weird flashback. Part 4 had a nice little reunion to cap off the arc, Part 5 just... ends. Very abruptly. Oh well. Also not the biggest fan of Giorno's powers ending up a little too similar to Josuke's for my taste.

I started on Part 6, and I'm enjoying it so far. But I have to say, considering this is the first female Jojo, and with mostly female characters in the main cast, I'm a little creeped out by how much more sexual this arc feels. They've mostly left that stuff behind now that I've caught up to the current episode thankfully.
 
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Part 5 just... ends. Very abruptly. Oh well. Also not the biggest fan of Giorno's powers ending up a little too similar to Josuke's for my taste.
Yeah, that additional episode where it mostly takes place before they meet Girono and it focuses on Bruno's gang, could have been dropped. It just feels like pointless filler. I actually like G's powers. While there are some similarities, G can't heal exactly. He has to create and replace parts or send them back to where they came from. To the point where he can create and replace body parts for himself if he chooses or needs to. Josuke can heal everyone, but himself. So that is a huge difference, and puts one out of distinctly major advantage over the other.
 
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BrawlMan

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I started on Part 6, and I'm enjoying it so far. But I have to say, considering this is the first female Jojo, and with mostly female characters in the main cast, I'm a little creeped out by how much more sexual this arc feels. They've mostly left that stuff behind now that I've caught up to the current episode thankfully.
I didn't feel uncomfortable, but I see where you're coming from. The only reason some of the fan service is done, is just to let you know that: "Hey. JoJo is no longer part of the Shonen Jump (though plenty anime/manga in that magazine has fan service to various degrees) lineup and is at adult stages now!" A majority of Jojo fans have grown up by this point. With all that said, Part 6 is easily in second place for me now. Depending on how this part ends, it might take place of my number one spot. Which is Part 2.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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I actually like G's powers. While there are some similarities, G can't heal exactly. He has to create and replace parts or send them back to where they came from. To the park where he can create and replace body parts for himself if he chooses or needs to. Josuke can heal everyone, but himself. So that is a huge difference, and puts one out of distinctly major advantage over the other.
It's not really the logic or whatever of his abilities that bothered me, or even how he used them, but how repetitive it got. You had people flinging themselves all over the place in Part 4 because they knew Josuke could heal them, and that's what the gang started doing in Part 5 as well. After so much it, especially since I binged it, all the gore and over-the-top injuries got old fast when you know Giorno is just going to heal everyone. It felt like the author wanted to have his cake and eat it too, he wanted all these dire injuries but didn't want to think up a way to do it without bringing in the healing aspect again. On a sidenote, is there ever going to be a point to Giorno's dad being Dio?

I didn't feel uncomfortable, but I see where you're coming from. The only reason some of the fan services done, is just to let you know that, hey JoJo is no longer part of the Shonen Jump (though plenty anime/manga in that magazine has had fan service to various degrees) lineup and is at adult stages now.
Interesting, from all the gore and death in the previous parts I would not have guessed that Jump censors things.
 
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It's not really the logic or whatever of his abilities that bothered me, or even how he used them, but how repetitive it got. You had people flinging themselves all over the place in Part 4 because they knew Josuke could heal them, and that's what the gang started doing in Part 5 as well. After so much it, especially since I binged it, all the gore and over-the-top injuries got old fast when you know Giorno is just going to heal everyone. It felt like the author wanted to have his cake and eat it too, he wanted all these dire injuries but didn't want to think up a way to do it without bringing in the healing aspect again. On a sidenote, is there ever going to be a point to Giorno's dad being Dio?
Most this does not bother me, because the action and the characters were so good, that didn't ruin the experience for me. Plus, Part 5 has arguably the third best pacing of the series so far. As far as G being the son of D, not much other than: Dio influence is strong even after death, and that despite being the son of an asshole, Gio has the heart of a Joe ⭐.


Interesting, from all the gore and death in the previous parts I would not have guessed that Jump censors things.
Back in the '80s, a lot of manga from that magazine was gory at the time. Mainly Fist of the North Star. Even back then, they did get controversy from it. Then the otaku killer happened, and then a lot of gory anime and manga couldn't be featured in that magazine anymore. Or only went straight to video. Shonen Jump still does blood, but not to the level of what it used to be.
 
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Adam Jensen

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OMG. How does something like Arcane even exist?
I love everything about it. It's probably the best thing that I've seen in at least 5 years. Not the best cartoon. The best anything. Disney can eat shit and die. It's got nothing on Arcane. I am in awe and at a loss for words.

If I had any complaints it would be that I think it could have used another episode in the first act. But I understand what they were going for with the three episodes per act structure. It's just that the emotional highs and lows would have had an even greater impact if we spent more time with these characters when they were younger.
 
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Dirty Hipsters

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Binged Part 4 and 5 of Jojo in a few days like a madman. I thought Part 4 was pretty fun for the most part, even though I didn't particularly like the asspull the villain had towards the end. His Stand was already ridiculously powerful, but I guess it was to tie into the idea of time manipulation being the apex of Stand abilities.

Part 5 I enjoyed more in general, because of the ridiculous characters and great performances from the VAs. So satisfying to hear people say BUCCIARATIIII!!! But I was a little miffed by the end. Besides Golden Wind Requiem being completely random, they wasted a whole two episodes, the last ones, on that weird flashback. Part 4 had a nice little reunion to cap off the arc, Part 5 just... ends. Very abruptly. Oh well. Also not the biggest fan of Giorno's powers ending up a little too similar to Josuke's for my taste.

I started on Part 6, and I'm enjoying it so far. But I have to say, considering this is the first female Jojo, and with mostly female characters in the main cast, I'm a little creeped out by how much more sexual this arc feels. They've mostly left that stuff behind now that I've caught up to the current episode thankfully.
Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of part 5, mainly because Giorno's powers are really cool but then they keep forgetting that he can do things other than healing people. Giorno isn't even really the main character of his own season, Bucciarati steals the show at every turn. Giorno has so many abilities with so much utility that he just keeps forgetting to actually use them.
 
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Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Aggretsuko season 4. Started off kinda rough with Haida being a weenie but ended strong.
 

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Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet.

Okay the animation is D-grade at best; not a lot of the character designs outside the core group of Scarlet, Blue, White, Green, Black and Ochre and Destiny Angel are very good and sometimes the dialogue - much like it’s predecessor - is risible and hilarious.

Yet for some reason I still love this show. It may be that I see how much potential this show had to be really good or that legendary Anderson vehicle and set design talent. Or that animation goofs aside there’s still an exciting science fiction action show here. And that somehow a pair of glowing green rings and a modulated voice that sounds like a British knockoff of Soundwave are as terrifying now as in the 1960s.

In fact why no one has optioned this for a movie fucking MYSTIFIES me.