The Anime Thread

Huh.

Sony's Funimation Global Group to Acquire Crunchyroll for US$1.175 Billion in Cash - News - Anime News Network

There had been some talk swirling around, but apparently now it's official. I wonder how much this will affect what shows Crunchyroll has to offer (they are also doing some simulcasts of Sentai Filmworks/HIDIVE shows, DanMachi being a prominent one).

I love anime and need to watch more of it. ^_^ Here's my list, that's probably incomplete. I have terrible memory.

Finished:
Death Note
Vampire Knight
Future Diary
Rosario Vampire
Fruits Basket
Moonphase
Cowboy Bebop
Full metal Alchemist (original)

In progress:
Pokemon
Yugioh
Naruto
Sailor Moon
Inuyasha

Your in-progress list has quite a bit to it, so I'll refrain from suggesting anything else for now.

So if you have a Switch, you can now watch Funimation shows on it.

Funimation Debuts Streaming App on Switch - News - Anime News Network

Apps are supposed to be incoming for Microsoft and Sony's new consoles as well.

So since most shows I watch have wrapped up, let's review a bit. LOL

Tonikawa-Over The Moon For You: Interesting premise and generally a well-executed show. Watching Nasa and Tsukasa's relationship develop over the course of the show was fun, as was seeing how the associated families dealt with the sudden marriage. The only thing that could be called a negative for the show is that they don't really delve into the MANY hints about Tsukasa and her background, but I think this season was more for showing the start of their relationship and setting a baseline of sorts. If there are any other seasons I'd imagine we'll see a deeper dive into the characters themselves.

I'm Standing on 1,000,000 Lives- An odd show at times, especially in some of the post-credits/preview stuff they do (weird sense of humor comes through). Decently thoughtful at times, though, with some stuff to chew on a bit (especially near the end of the season).

By the Grace of the Gods- Like I said before, it's fluff, but in a good way. Any danger is low-stakes stuff and while everything works out for the main character it's not really done in an insulting way. The creativity and variety in the slimes that are tamed by the MC runs a fun range and all the secondary characters bring their own quirks. A good show if you need a change of pace after something darker, as it's pretty much a harmless fun little show.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle- Probably my favorite of this season. So bonkers and funny at times and generally an entertaining show. Princess Sya's expressions alone are worth watching the show for, but the way the whole Demon Castle eventually warps around her behavior just adds to the chaos. And I'd be a liar if I said I wouldn't buy a plush version of the Teddy Demons in the show. LOL

Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World- At best? It's okay. They do lean heavy into MANY anime tropes, which is kind of a shame because there's also a lot of story threads they could have explored more thoroughly. The last episode is especially full of interesting ideas that beg for a second season, but I'm not sure they did enough with the first season to bring about demand for a second.

The returning seasons of DanMachi and Irregular at Magic High School were good as well (the former having more of a must-watch season than the latter) with good stories and action for both shows.

From the "do they know what they've got there?" file:

I was shopping at Target today, and in their video section they've got one side of a four sided stand-alone display rack stocked with anime and related titles. Quite a few Funimation releases, but also Avatar: The Last Airbender, RWBY and even the full series release of Samurai Jack (with a price tag that could make you say ouch these days lol). But among the anime (including classics like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo) is a title that stopped me a bit.

They're carrying the first season of Goblin Slayer.

To be fair, in terms of violent action they do also have a couple of the Attack on Titan releases, but considering the nasty nature of goblin procreation that's shown in Goblin Slayer it just kind of took me aback for a moment that you'd find that at Target. I'd hate to be the manager who might have to deal with an irate mom who didn't do her own due diligence in checking the show before buying it for little Tommy.

Food Wars has been pretty good one you get past the fan service.

Haven't watched the show beyond seeing the occasional clip, but I think there are those out there who would consider the fan service a feature of the show. LOL

I'm not going to lie, it does show up throughout the show but it's good in spite of it.

I'm watching Chihayafuru for the first time and it's surprinsingly entertained.

So some of the new shows are popping up.

New season of Quintessential Quintuplets has started, and while they're picking up pretty much where the first season left off (Futaro recovering in the hospital from his illness at the end of the first season) it looks like they may finally be diving into the mystery of who Futaro met and who his bride may end up being. If you liked the first season things are looking good so far for season 2.

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki might have some potential, but there may be a challenge for some to get past the female lead. She's downright rude very early on and her attitude and behavior (while well-intentioned) can really rub you the wrong way. I'll see how things go.

Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town might be a bit of a hidden comedy gem. There's some great comedy reactions and behavior in the cast introduced so far and one of the visuals showing Lloyd's travels had me laughing pretty good.

Finally there's Horimiya. Very VERY strong first episode. Even if you aren't typically into slice of life rom-com stories I'd highly recommend checking this show out. Well written and likable characters, good storytelling and some seeds for future story developments are already in place. Again, I highly recommend this one.

So apparently my gushing over Horimiya was not unfounded. LOL

Horimiya Sets New Record For Most-Watched Debut Romantic Comedy Premiere on MyAnimeList - Interest - Anime News Network

An observation or two from some shows I'm watching. Probable spoilers ahead if you haven't been watching, so fair warning has been given.

...

So I've been keeping up with the new season of Quintessential Quintuplets, and something popped into my head from some of the dialogue from Nino in the latest episode. After storming away from Futaro in a huff (as Nino is prone to doing), she thinks to herself, "We aren't girlfriend material to him anyway." But with some of the story elements from earlier in the season, I'd suggest his behavior in terms of romance may be more that he doesn't see himself as boyfriend material.

In the first episode of the new season, we get a flashback to when Futaro met one of the girls on a class trip. He's being his rowdy younger self, even encouraging one of his classmates who is doing math drills to "throw away the useless junk" while throwing the math papers into the air. But one of the girls he's trying to get the attention of pays more attention to the classmate and helps him pick up his math papers. As they're walking along we get to hear about how the girl and the math student have grown up together, always been close, are both class reps, and even how good they look together. Futaro suddenly gets a stomachache and says he needs to use the restroom, and that he'll catch up with everyone later.

We then see young Futaro sitting on some stairs alone, and as we see images of Futaro and his classmates on the backs of playing cards (they were playing cards on the train) they have someone remove the card with Futaro on it as his "Throw out the useless junk" line is replayed. He basically removed himself to let his classmates move closer together. Shortly after that we see his first meeting with one of the quintuplets (really starting to think it was Itsuki he met back then, but that's another rant lol) and the story goes on.

There's also why he started studying, as he tells Itsuki (after a lot of prodding from her to find out details) that after his encounter with the girl in Kyoto he wanted to become someone who is needed. But he's in a mindset where the problems between Nino and Itsuki have him doubting whether he has or could be that kind of person, and that's when he meets the girl from Kyoto again. We know it's one of the quintuplets, but she calls herself "Rena" (because of course they have to continue the guessing game lol). Rena has to force Futaro into a rowboat to keep him from running away because he doesn't feel like he's the person he wanted to be before he saw her again.

I may be reading more into things (and please no spoilers from the manga readers lol) but I think there's an argument to be made of some self-esteem issues when it comes to romance for Futaro. He's not completely clueless when it comes to romance (as the "remove the useless junk" bit from the trip indicates) but it may be that he just hasn't seen himself as worthy of romance so he wouldn't think anyone would have any real interest in him.

Geez that was a lot of text for "Does Futaro have self-esteem issues? Tell me what you think!" LOL

Anyhow, that leads me into the other bit I wanted to mention from new episodes this week, once again from Quintessential Quintuplets but also from Horimiya, and that's aggressive anime ladies. From Quintuplets? Well right after the bit where Nino walks away in a huff (that I mentioned WAY back in the first paragraph LOL) she turns right around and tells Futaro face to face that she loves him. After that? Well let's just say she doesn't hesitate at the opportunity provided by a mixed bath at a hot springs. As for Horimiya? Hori and Miyamura get intimate with one another, but it looks like Hori might be aggressively territorial with Miyamura AND a bit of a biter as she leaves her mark on him.

On the back of his neck.

He kind of brought it on himself. Miyamura DID say in that episode he didn't go out with Hori because she's a "normal" girl, and well that kind of thing can come with the territory with not-so-normal girls. It's quite the sight to behold, though.

Anyhow, thoughts?

I really like your review on this, great job

Last Dungeon Boonies continues to entertain me, btw. The latest episode in particular had a great visual gag that had me laughing, as Lloyd and just about all of the women introduced in the anime so far are relaxing in a mixed bath at a hotel and talking over the potentially dire situation that might be unfolding there (because anime LOL).

As the conversation goes along Lloyd gets excited about something brought up and stands up in front of all the women. You get a great "eyes bulging/nosebleed" combo from the chief of the village Lloyd comes from, but the chibi versions of all the other ladies all have some great facial expressions in their reaction to Lloyd's, um, physical state. Well worth a look.