The Anime Thread

Swinging back to Tenchi, Crunchyroll just released the 4th season of the OVA series. And thankfully it did answer SOME questions I had with the 5th season episode that's been released.

Unfortunately it brought about a few more questions. LOL

The four episodes of the 4th season focus on the days leading up to the wedding of Nobuyuki and Rea and establishes the link with the War on Geminar series. What's fascinating is that if the 5th season of the OVA series follows what was set up in the 4th season, we'll be seeing how Kenshi ended up being so VERY well prepared for his trip to Geminar.

Let's just say we get a really good idea of what he was talking about in the Geminar series when speaking about his sisters and all the women involved in his life.

They introduced someone who cast members kept trying to push towards Seina that seemed new to me, and I still haven't seen any explanations of that GXP-related character from the 5th season episode. So more research time, I guess.

And after a little looking on ANN, it looks like that GXP-related character is brand new, so that's why there's no info. LOL One other thing I'm curious about is that a cast listing of characters in coming 5th season episodes includes what looks to be a female relative of one of Seina's villains from GXP.

All in all, it's a fun watch for Tenchi fans.

A bit of a follow-up on the Tenchi OVAs, particularly the 4th season.

If you watch it, be forewarned that it's got a LOT of spoilers in regards to plot revelations in the War on Geminar series. So if one is tempted to try and watch the shows/OVAs chronologically and save War on Geminar for last, the 4th season OVA series is gonna spoil some of the interesting details of Geminar.

That being said, I re-watched the entire 4th season along with the one 5th season episode that's available, and it's much more cohesive seeing it that way. There's more than a few things in the first episode of the 5th season that are direct references to events and discussions in the last episode of the 4th season.

Funny thing, swinging back to the chronological watching of the shows, I'm finding myself actually trying to plot that out. LOL It's pretty easy with the first couple seasons of the OVAs, but the third season is where things start to get a little tricky. You start getting references and hints at the stuff coming up in GXP, and GXP itself weaves in and out of the narrative of the OVA series a bit (Seina's return to Earth seems to be after Rea and Nobuyuki's wedding but before Kenshi is born). The 4th season of the OVA series continues that, as at one point there seem to be some discussions between Washu and Minaho (an attendant of Lady Seto who is on Earth for the wedding) about a ship that may well be Fuku.

I don't know if I'll actually bother posting any plotting out of "which episode fits where" or what order to watch things if you want to go chronologically, but it may be an engaging (and distracting) enough project to pursue.

So apparently before his fall from grace, Harvey Weinstein tried doing some cuts on Princess Mononoke before a US release.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/studio-ghibli-refused-cut-princess-143100989.html

I cannot imagine how butchered that film's story would have been with almost 45 minutes cut from it. Kudos and props to Miyazaki and his company for standing up to that.

I especially like the bit about Weinstein's company (or maybe Weinstein himself, if the article is right) getting sent a samurai sword with a note attached saying, "No cuts."

Yes, more Tenchi stuff. Hey, blame Crunchyroll for releasing the latest episode of the OVA series.

So what's fun about the new episode is that it seems to be not only laying some more groundwork for War on Geminar details but it also looks to focus on some stuff (loose ends?) from GXP. We get a whole opening segment focusing on a meeting between Seina's wives (confirming his marriages to Kiriko, Amane, Ryoko Balta and Neju at the end of GXP DID get followed through, along with the ladies from Renza, whoof to eight wives, though lol) and some story points going back to Seina's history with pirate trapping/capturing. At the very least it does explain an upcoming cast member looking to be a relative of Tarant Shank.

One of the fun parts? We get to see the progression of time taking place. Beyond seeing Kenshi growing older, we see it reflected in some other characters. Seina looks to be a bit older and is sporting stubble similar to his dad, and Sasami is taller and looking a bit more like Tsunami (hairstyle in particular). Even Fuku (Ryo-Ohki's sister of sorts) has a more mature humanoid form and even speaks rather than making the usual "meows" we hear from Ryo-Ohki (who also has a slightly older humanoid form).

They dug deep for some characters. I had to look it up on Wikipedia to confirm, but there are two characters running around with Seina's crew that are lookalikes of characters from Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure. Seems as though the creator of Dual! (same creator as Tenchi Muyo) confirmed both shows take place in the same universe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual!_Parallel_Trouble_Adventure

Tenchi links section is at the end and explains the appearance of Miki Steinberg and a young lady who looks like D from the Dual! series. It also explains the line in the beginning of the latest OVA episode where Kiriko mentions something to Miki about not transforming.

Gotta do the homework for a Tenchi show, I guess. LOL

Anyhow, we still have some questions. Still no explanation or background on Jubia yet, and I've yet to find info on two characters that showed up in the new episode (Kirche and Quis Panta).

It's still fun watching everything get tied together, though.

I am so looking forward to watching these two

Man, I was slaughtering names left and right in my Tenchi post. LOL

It's Miki Steinbeck, not Steinberg. Also it's Jovia, not Jubia. I think. She hasn't been called by name much in the OVAs, and I could swear she was referred to as "Jobia" by Tenchi in the first episode of the new season.

Oh and they spelled Quis Panta's first name as "Kuis" in the Crunchyroll stream, so I give up.

Ok, no Tenchi for once.

Found myself drawn into The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? which just finished out. Yet another isekai show, with someone from Japan falling asleep and suddenly waking up in the body of a young boy in another world. And yes, of course he's got ridiculously overpowered magical abilities, which kind of makes up for the fact that he's the eight son in the family line of a less-than-rich noble family (meaning he's not looking at getting ANY inheritance). The show follows his life from childhood to when people come of age in that world (mid to late teens I believe), thankfully concentrating on major events rather than every single little minute detail.

What's kind of interesting about the show is that, while it doesn't go full on Game of Thrones level intrigue, it does show and dive into some political maneuvering involving the king, nobles of the land and even the main character's own family. It adds an interesting little bit of spice to the story, especially as the show gets near the end.

It does fall into many of the predictable tropes/clichés of both isekai shows and anime in general, however. The overpowered hero, something of a harem forming around him, and so on. The show does try not to lean into them too hard, but at times it just can't seem to help itself. LOL

Overall it's an okay show. If you can look past/deal with the tropes and are just looking for some mild political intrigue, it's worth a look. Not something I'd active seek out for my collection, but I don't regret spending some time watching it.

I havent been able to watch anime lately, its amazing how fast you can fall out of it. For awhile my day scheduled around shield hero drops at noon etc. Thats not even so far off. But Im so lost now because of the overwhelming number of shows per season, ive missed dozens of shows and have no idea whats airing, or what to look forward to. There really isnt a good anime forum.

If it helps I hit the Anime News Network site pretty regularly to keep up on announcements and new shows. Also, the recent pandemic did have an impact on current shows airing, with some ongoing shows just now getting restarted while others that were slated for spring being moved to summer and so on.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/

They've also got an article there specifically to give updates on what has and hasn't been affected. Tends to get frequent updates.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ne...ilms-manga-games-affected-by-covid-19/.158799

What's good is that the summer season should be starting shortly, so it shouldn't be long before they have first episode previews of the new shows coming and that can be used as a good starting point.

Few other shows finished up.

Wave, Listen To Me! was an interesting one. The show follows a woman working in a restaurant who ends up getting roped into doing radio after a drunken rant of hers is recorded by a radio producer. No doubt it's a weird show at times, but it's got some good animation, interesting and engaging storytelling and some great (but again, weird) humor. It may not be for everyone, but I found it fun. Maybe not a keeper for the collection, but it was fun.

The second season of Kaguya-sama: Love is War also finished, and they nailed it again. They continued with the humor from the first season, expanded the cast a bit and explored some more backstory on the cast. The standout episodes might be the Sports Festival arc, particularly with how they further fleshed out Ishigami. With as strong as the humor focus has been on the show, the Sports Festival episodes focusing on Ishigami can seem like an unexpected dramatic turn, but they really made it work. Well worth watching, and if the seasons ever come out at a reasonable price (Aniplex pricing just makes me shake my head sometimes lol) that show will be in the collection.

Finally there's Gleipnir. A couple of the reviewers on ANN have described it as the trashy show of the spring season, and I can't argue with that. Under most circumstances I would avoid that as that particular kind of trashy show can usually leave me feeling like I need a shower, but this one was different. Watching the story unfold has been very interesting to say the least, and I really hope there's another season coming along.

That said, here is fair warning: the show can be a bit icky at times, and it is NOT subtle in the metaphors it's using. At all. But if you don't mind a trashy death-game kind of show, it's worth watching because they really did a good job with it.

Now I just have to figure out when to catch up on Fruits Basket and Black Clover, not to mention finish out the latest season of Tsugumomo.

I reallly liked your reviews

Thanks. I really try to give a general overview of the show without doing any spoiling, even if they do leak through on occasion. It makes for a fine line to walk, though. LOL

Couple of quick takes on two new shows (the summer season has started).

Monster Girl Doctor? Well, apparently the creator of the source material listened to the Monster Musume soundtrack a LOT when creating the source material, so that should give you an idea of where the show might be going. LOL Fantasy world setting, with a 100 year war between demihumans and humans waged and eventually fizzled out. Now humans and monster folk (centaurs, lamia, cat girls, cyclops, you get the idea) coexist and we follow the day-to-day life of a human doctor assisted by his lamia childhood friend who gets jealous whenever he deals with other monster girls as patients.

Do you expect anything less given the influence Monster Musume seems to have had?

Anyhow, it's not anything groundbreaking so far, but I'm gonna give it a go. If nothing else it should be interesting to see how much of the Monster Musume influence comes through and where different takes on monster girls go.

Then there's The Misfit of Demon King Academy. As background? Before the show premiered, Aniplex and Dengeki Bunko launched a Twitter campaign asking fans to determine who the strongest protagonist is among Sword Art Online, The Irregular at Magic High School and The Misfit of Demon King Academy.

One episode in and the protagonist of Demon King Academy is well on his way to compete for that title.

So yeah, we've circled back to super-overpowered main characters attending a school that can't/doesn't have the ability to properly gauge him. Hey, at least it's not another isekai. LOL It's a little different in that his school is to foster someone who becomes the new Demon King (bit of a twist where most schools are fighting against some dread overlord/overlord's ascension) and there's some oddball potential with Anos' family (he was only born one month ago and his parents are super doting but pretty oblivious at the same time). But from the looks of things if you've seen Asterisk War, Irregular at Magic High School, Chivalry of a Failed Knight or any other shows along those lines, there's a good chance that's what you're going to be in for.

Now to wait on the premiere of the new season of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU and maybe see what Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time is all about.

...

Huh, guess this wasn't all that quick of a take on either show.

Should start a retro review, I cant watch new anime, but i love old anime and remember it. Bubblegum Crisis is a classic.

It's a thought. I do have some older titles in my collection and there are more than a few available through streaming services. There might be an argument made that this thread has been going on just long enough that some of the micro-reviews I did earlier on could be considered retro, especially when I first started binging a LOT of shows on Hulu. LOL

I think my biggest concern would be finding that a show I liked doesn't stand the test of time. Whether it's a dub that sounds REALLY bad now, stories that don't quite hold up or just a case of remembering it through rose-colored glasses there's a distinct possibility that it just doesn't hold up.

There's also the fact that older shows tended to have more episodes to them, like a LOT more episodes. Could be tougher to get through considering how much newer stuff I tend to watch.

Ah sometimes they do sometimes they dont. New dominion tank police and robot carnival, project a-ko even akira. My childhood . In retrospect some hold up better then others, some are very interesting to watch when you take time period in account. Cybernetics and fear of megacities and governments were in all their fiction.

As well as many eco oriented titles like Arjuna, Here and there, Now and then (arguably, though its amazing anyway) and princess monoke continued through the 90s, but cyber punk anime started to wane, space operas were once gold mint, now sunrise does one every now and then, and banks on easy money gundam shows that are basically repeats of earlier better gundams.

Ill be the first to say i love trash. if it makes me laugh i dont care. But I dont really click with modern anime so much. I mean slime was good, but was it oh my god holy **** good? not really. Shield hero was good but left obviously unfinished. The books dont seem to have an end game last time i watched. Right around then shield hero, index 3. i got too sick to watch anime anymore. Id just be struggling in pain and woujld not enjoy it.

Hmmm, this might have some potential.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ne...l-fena-pirate-princess-anime-for-2021/.162151



At the very least, it's gonna look good with Production I.G. working on it.

I absolutely love this, I am looking forward to this. Thank you

This is great news to see, on a couple different levels.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ne...on-maid-anime-season-2-for-2021-debut/.162778

A new season of Dragon Maid is good enough, but it's especially great to see Kyoto Animation rebounding after what happened.