The last thing we watched, cartoon/animu edition

BrawlMan

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Experiments gone wrong and rare (ie. weaponized) genetic conditions are fine, even if I think the vampire girl was a stretch. But the ghost was too much.
I like the supernatural stuff. Gentleman Ghost being my favorite. Besides, the episode and on a tear jerking and heartwarming moment.
 
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Piscian

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I like the supernatural stuff. Gentle and Ghost being my favorite. Besides, the episode and on a tear jerking and heartwarming moment.
I'm mixed on it. I think there's an argument to be had that Batman is at his best when he's the worlds greatest detective so everything should be material things he can solve.

That said, I think the supernatural stuff often allows Batman to show his character and humanity. That sometimes simply "doing the right thing" wins the day. I'm confident that before this series ends Solomon Grundy will show up which is one of my favorite Rogues because batman understands his pain and automaton like inability to stop being who he is by his nature so batman just keeps him contains in the sewer rather than trying to destroy him. I like those character study episodes.
 
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Johnny Novgorod

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I like the supernatural stuff. Gentle and Ghost being my favorite. Besides, the episode and on a tear jerking and heartwarming moment.
I'm mixed on it. I think there's an argument to be had that Batman is at his best when he's the worlds greatest detective so everything should be material things he can solve.
The supernatural episodes are fine on their own, I just think they go against the show's scientific approach to investigating a mystery. From the ghost episode onwards every new mystery could be potentially explained with "maybe a ghost did it".

It's fine for someone like Carnacki to start off investigating a a mystery and then rule whether there's a supernatural explanation or not; here it feels like a betrayal of the concept.

It also looks silly when you factor it into Harvey Dent's fall from grace storyline. "Rising politician cuts deal with the mob, which bites him back later when he tries to uphold his principles because the ends never justify the means... also the ghost of an 18th century nobleman showed up on his ghost horse at a photo op and made him look bad". In fact isn't the ghost the direct cause for Harvey to turn to the mob for help?
 

BrawlMan

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I'm mixed on it. I think there's an argument to be had that Batman is at his best when he's the worlds greatest detective so everything should be material things he can solve.

That said, I think the supernatural stuff often allows Batman to show his character and humanity. That sometimes simply "doing the right thing" wins the day. I'm confident that before this series ends Solomon Grundy will show up which is one of my favorite Rogues because batman understands his pain and automaton like inability to stop being who he is by his nature so batman just keeps him contains in the sewer rather than trying to destroy him. I like those character study episodes.
Batman is no stranger to supernatural, so I don't see this as a big deal nor complaint for those who have issues with them. This isn't The Dark Knight Trilogy, So going for super ultra realism or groundedness makes little sense. Especially in the animation apartment. I prefer they get creative. Like with your hypothetical example with Grundy.
 

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The supernatural episodes are fine on their own, I just think they go against the show's scientific approach to investigating a mystery.
Not really. You can integrate both fine. Even with the soul sucking vampire girl, it's kept ambiguous if she's supernatural or her condition is scientific. With some of the dialouge from her brother the ending implying and leaning towards the scientific end.

In fact isn't the ghost the direct cause for Harvey to turn to the mob for help?
Partially yes, but Harvey was already running behind and losing the poles before the ghost even showed up. GG just made it worse as he is classists, and only steals from those with less money.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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Started watching Delicious in Dungeon. It rocks! It's light, funny, endearing and I like all the characters. It's also obsessed with cataloguing stuff and making sense of how everything works (and then exploiting it). You really buy into the show's passion for learning and experimenting. The characters are believably smart but flawed. It also taps into a lot of the videogamey tropes, like bestiaries and weak spots and respawning and upgrading, much more naturally than what an actual adaptation would typically offer.

My only real criticism is that for all the luscious visuals the animation itself cuts a lot of corners, even for an anime. It comes and goes, and obviously there's a lot of good stuff - a lot of the comedy and charm comes from the slide shows and demos sprung from the imagination of the characters - but sometimes the show feels about as "animated" as a Ken Burns documentary.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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Oshi No Ko season 2 is fun. It's a gorgeous anime when it wants to be, with the second to the latest episode brimming with creativity and animation skill.

It also insists on blueballing me. They're really dragging this arc out and honestly it's getting a bit old. They know exactly which scene everyone came to see, they keep teasing it but never actually get to it.
 
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I finished marathoning Seasons 1 & 2 of My Adventures with Superman. What a way to end the series! I love how they made Braniac familiar, yet different enough from his classic and standard counterparts. He's like a combination of himself and Zod from Man of Steel. Kara is a adorable. I have little complaints about this series as a whole. Whoever worked on this show needs a raise. All of them. Every animator, storyboard artist, and all of the voice actor.

The ending is really heartwarming and I love how the theme of family and friendship is done here.

I will say that the only weakest element of Season 2 is Lex Luthor himself. He's there, but barely in the background. I get why and I understand, but he doesn't accomplish much. I know this is him at his youngest, and rise to power, so he's more than likely the main villain for Season 3. I am glad to hear that Season 3 is in production. I'll do what I did last time and wait for all of the episodes to be available on streaming so I can marathon them in one go.
 

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Just watched Akira for the first time. I won't do a full review of it because I'm not sure I can really articulate how I felt about it, but I definitely enjoyed it, even if I don't understand most of it.
 
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Gordon_4

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Just watched Akira for the first time. I won't do a full review of it because I'm not sure I can really articulate how I felt about it, but I definitely enjoyed it, even if I don't understand most of it.
And now you know where that often imitated motorbike slide stop comes from.
 
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Chimpzy

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Just watched Akira for the first time. I won't do a full review of it because I'm not sure I can really articulate how I felt about it, but I definitely enjoyed it, even if I don't understand most of it.
Yeah, godlike animation, but the plot is kinda all over the place, because they're trying to cram 6 volumes worth of manga into a 2 hour movie, and also said manga wasn't finished at the time.

And now you know where that often imitated motorbike slide stop comes from.
The Akira Slide is to animators as the Wilhelm Scream is to sound designers
 
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BrawlMan

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Just watched Akira for the first time. I won't do a full review of it because I'm not sure I can really articulate how I felt about it, but I definitely enjoyed it, even if I don't understand most of it.
Yeah, godlike animation, but the plot is kinda all over the place, because they're trying to cram 6 volumes worth of manga into a 2 hour movie, and also said manga wasn't finished at the time.
I still like the movie, despite its compressed adaption. The plot is good enough for what it is, and is at least a 6. I pop the movie in every now and then.

The Akira Slide is to animators as the Wilhelm Scream is to sound designers
You beat me to it. Oh well, I posted the video in the movie and tv jokes thread 2 years ago.
 
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meiam

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This guy break down one scene of Akira frame by frame, which is pretty cool.


I will agree that the plot isn't amazing, but I still quite like it. I also really like Kaneda, he has no power or great destiny, but unlike vast majority of main character he has a lot of agency and he impose himself in the story.
 
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Casual Shinji

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Just watched Akira for the first time. I won't do a full review of it because I'm not sure I can really articulate how I felt about it, but I definitely enjoyed it, even if I don't understand most of it.
Anime with lip-synched animation can be counted on one hand. This is one of them.

Also, it's amazing the horribly oppressive atmosphere this movie manages to establish, eventhough nearly every frame is brusting at the seams with colour.
 
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Dirty Hipsters

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I also just finished watching Batman Caped Crusader and I absolutely loved it. I really wish it had more than 10 episodes, or that the episodes were longer. Really loving the clean animation and art deco aesthetic.

It's kind of interesting how little Batman there is in the Batman show though. He's almost played like more of a secondary character for most of the episodes.

Personal favorite episode for me was the Clayface one.

I feel like Barbaras character reminds me a lot of Maggie Gyllenhaals character in The Dark Knights. TBH I prefer her the way she is and would rather not see her "put on the suit". I feel like it might jump the shark a bit and undercut this being a more hardboiled show. Nothing about her character insinuates she wants to put on a purple suit and punch bad guys.
I'd rather she didn't suit up either, it would end up feeling like an indictment of her morality. There's already enough grey in other characters. The show doesn't need a Daredevil or She-Hulk.
Agreed, I don't want this version of Barbara Gordon to become Batgirl. I don't think it's suits her character as they've presented her so far.
 

Bob_McMillan

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I tried starting this firefighter anime (Daigo something, I already forgot the name), but it's so chock full of filler I had to give it up despite being interested in the premise. Been a while since I've experienced such an anime. It really had 20 second long shots of people reacting, grunting, widening their eyes... All with like three themes from the soundtrack being blasted on repeat. Felt so cheap.

I also tried watching Konosuba Season 3, but man, this show is a lot funnier in small bursts. Actually watching a full episode is a little tiresome.

Man I miss watching anime I enjoy... I don't think I can take yet another rewatch of Haikyuu.
 
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Piscian

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I tried starting this firefighter anime (Daigo something, I already forgot the name), but it's so chock full of filler I had to give it up despite being interested in the premise. Been a while since I've experienced such an anime. It really had 20 second long shots of people reacting, grunting, widening their eyes... All with like three themes from the soundtrack being blasted on repeat. Felt so cheap.

I also tried watching Konosuba Season 3, but man, this show is a lot funnier in small bursts. Actually watching a full episode is a little tiresome.

Man I miss watching anime I enjoy... I don't think I can take yet another rewatch of Haikyuu.
The most popular anime of this season is "Too many Losing Heroines" on Crunchyroll. Its a highschool comedy drama about a guy who gets dragged into his female classmates love problems. Its a nice twist on the genre as theres never any love triangle will they won't they stuff with the MC. The MC is the viewers perspective. Surprisingly funny and heartfelt and the animation is top notch.

Unfortunately, Outside of My Hero Academia, which is in its "All your favorite characters die" season, theres nothing in Action/scifi I can recommend without caveats.

I thought Kaiju #8 was pretty fantastic but Ill watch anything with Kaiju in it.
 

Bob_McMillan

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The most popular anime of this season is "Too many Losing Heroines" on Crunchyroll. Its a highschool comedy drama about a guy who gets dragged into his female classmates love problems. Its a nice twist on the genre as theres never any love triangle will they won't they stuff with the MC. The MC is the viewers perspective. Surprisingly funny and heartfelt and the animation is top notch.

Unfortunately, Outside of My Hero Academia, which is in its "All your favorite characters die" season, theres nothing in Action/scifi I can recommend without caveats.

I thought Kaiju #8 was pretty fantastic but Ill watch anything with Kaiju in it.
I already finished Kaiju No. 8, it was indeed pretty solid.

Thanks, I'll check out Too Many Losing Heroines. I've heard of it, but honestly the name alone didn't really endear me towards it.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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FInished Delicious in Dungeon, which was most excellent.

I'm surprised to learn the first season adapts more than half the entirety of the manga, which wrapped up last year. S1 adapts 52 chapters out of the complete 97. So that means that, unless Netflix decides to behave in a manner most non-triumphant and cut down on episodes-per-season, season two is the last one. Which is crazy to me - the way the world balloons with characters and plotlines in the second half, I could've sworn they were setting up for a traditional 4 or 5 seasons of wheel-spinning. If we're done with just two seasons I will be very happy and very impressed.
 

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So, I got through The Clone Wars with my kids

I had previously watched about 2 seasons when it first came out and it was trash.

Upon rewatch, it the exact same problems. The early seasons have no connective tissue. It's a bunch of random events that usually contradict what characters did previously. Anakin's cool calm and collected this episode? Ignore that as this episode he's reckless and irrational. No wait, now he's caring and considerate.... after the last episode when he got a bunch of clones killed. How is the Trade Federation still in this fight after so many losses? There is little consistency...

Until we get to the latter seasons. This is where it felt more like Rebels. A battle here actually affects something over there. The clones got storylines. I started caring about Fives and Echo. I didn't even care much about Rex in season 2 because that's how he was written. Cannon Fodder, not actual people. Anakin could change his attitude but now there might be a trigger. Just because you defeat the Separatists in this battle, you can see how it's just a stopping action, not a win. Independent states played both sides against each other.

Season 5 was the best but 3 and 4 were also good. Weird distractions happened in the final season that is more about the Bad Batch than following the Clone Wars

Edit: It took about 5 months to get through the first two seasons with my kids. The last 5 seasons took about 2mths. The change in storytelling is that dramatic