[Dolmen 2.0]

So Gigguk kinda agrees with us both D'rek

Spoiler

[D'rek]

Ha, I was just about to post that, too!

You (and he) made a lot of really good points. Maybe a lot of it just comes down to I need to change my expectations of what the show will focus on.

[LinearPhilosopher]

So i decided to get back into darling in the franx, mostly cause my fb won't shut up about it.

Im up to ep 18, and i must saying im really enjoying all the melodrama shit. Despite the fact i still think this show is bad. I guess i have shit taste?

Also ichigo is still bae.


On a related note, decided to try out this Doki Doki litterature club game. I think its going to take a while before it gets good as im kinda just cringing atm.

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 02 July 2018 - 03:04 PM, said:

On a related note, decided to try out this Doki Doki litterature club game. I think its going to take a while before it gets good as im kinda just cringing atm.

I remember there being a ton of hype/memes around DDL, but it sounded like aside from a few novel surprises/plot twists the rest wasn't anything notable? So in that case, make sure you don't risk spoiling yourself on any of those potential surprises!

Spoiler

Not really my cup of tea, so I already deliberately spoiled myself about all of them back when the game was being mentioned everywhere.

[Silencer]

D, on 03 July 2018 - 05:06 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 02 July 2018 - 03:04 PM, said:

On a related note, decided to try out this Doki Doki litterature club game. I think its going to take a while before it gets good as im kinda just cringing atm.

I remember there being a ton of hype/memes around DDL, but it sounded like aside from a few novel surprises/plot twists the rest wasn't anything notable? So in that case, make sure you don't risk spoiling yourself on any of those potential surprises!

Spoiler

Not really my cup of tea, so I already deliberately spoiled myself about all of them back when the game was being mentioned everywhere.

Yeah,I was never under the impression it was anything beyond passable in terms of writing, characters, etc. People were just hyping it for the plot twist(s).
Could be wrong but that was my take from the general talk about the game and I'm not even sure said twists were anything special to the wider VN crowd? Seemed mostly people with little exposure to the genre who thought it was doing something unique but I haven't actually spoiled myself yet.

[D'rek]

In other news, I picked up Chihayafura and blitzed through the first dozen episodes of it over the weekend. Anyone ever heard of it/seen it? It's one of those The Ocho anime about a high school club dedicated to some obscure sport (in this case competitive karuta) and they go through the steps of starting up the club, establishing character motivations, finding members, getting organized, working towards nationals, etc., like Cheer Boys or Hikaru-no-go. I wouldn't say the sport is all that interesting itself, but the protagonist team are fun and positive, while the matches have some decent suspense so overall I'm enjoying it. Has some really pretty parts, too.

[D'rek]

Which of the four-score Fate shows is that one?

[D'rek]

Briar King, on 07 July 2018 - 09:04 PM, said:

You got me... never heard of it/franchise(till you said that) before Netflix reco to me.

Really? That's amazing!

Fate/ is like Mario, with all the go-karting/tennis/RPG/typing-tutor/etc spin-offs. There's alternate ending versions of the original, there's a gritty prequel, a battle royale spin-off, a cross-universe super team up spin-off, a self-parodying comedy show, a cooking show, one where the main characters are all fanservicey lesbian magical girl lolis... (I'm not even kidding, those are all real things) and a lot of them are wildly popular, so it's quite a surprise you've never heard of them.

In any case, hope you like it! And if you really, really like it, there might be more of it for you to enjoy.

[D'rek]

Recent various updates:

Cells At Work - Yeah, it's literally a show about red blood cells and white blood cells and platelets, etc, doing their jobs inside the body, only they're all human-looking anime characters. This is a thing that now exists. I'll admit the first episode was actually fun and the platelets are incredibly adorable, but I wouldn't expect a ton of variety from this. Probably will be a good show to watch a random episode every couple weeks.

Banana Fish - Light-yaoi street punks in New York City, with vivid, colourful art, holy shit that fight choreography, and nary a shy teenage protagonist or superpower in sight? Do yourself a favour, go watch the first episode of Banana Fish as soon as possible!


Food Wars S3.5 Finale - Ended really well, even if they were stuck ending in the middle of a multi-battle showdown. Feels like they found their feet again after a weaker season 3 and the first part of season 3.5, though definitely still not near the more consistent and better quality of season 1.

Saiki Kusuo season 2 - finished off the second season finale this week. Strange, I thought since the manga was finished there'd be a more big, conclusive finale. While there was a multi-part final story, it didn't really close out any of the show's running gags/sub-plots. Not necessarily a problem, that's not really expected from a gag anime like this, and it was still funny, but the manga readers seemed to be implying that there would be something more significant. Odd.

Dragon Pilot - I stopped watching this a few weeks back. Very disappointed in it. The character writing got kinda dumb - everyone seemed to be getting more and more one-dimensional - and I was getting angrier and angrier at all the sexual harassment from the male characters (which the show seems to portray as being no big deal) plus the female pilots seemingly only existing so that the dragons can symbolically marry them (heck, maybe it wasn't even symbolic by the end, I didn't stick around to fight out).

FLCL Prog. - Still holding on watching this. I want to do a binge-rewatch of the first one and go straight from that into this.

Didn't keep up with LotGH remake, will have to watch some more of it later on.

And then lastly... (actually I'm going to make a separate post)

[D'rek]

Tonight, I watched In This Corner of the World.

It is a very subtly potent film. Hearing about how it tells the story of a young woman, Suzu, from a town near Hiroshima living during WWII, you'd think this is another film that will *destroy* you with shock and grief, the way Grave of the Fireflies does. But that's not really what this movie is. This movie is not about the one big moment at all, it's about showing lots and lots and lots and lots of little moments of the character's everyday (yet not-so-everyday) life that build and build and build upon each other, some tragically and some joyously. It really is a "slice of life" in pace and style, with very few big cinematic moments, and those few big moments are the ones that most affect Suzu, rather than being the ones that most affect the rest of the world. There's hardly any larger historical context given nor any political moralizing, it really does just stick to its title and showcase the lives of Suzu and her family in one small corner of the world during these events (which is the point of the film - the director has said that his purpose in making this film is to teach the younger generations about what it was like for the ordinary citizens living during the war, rather than how the education system teaches about the war itself).

All of which makes for a disconcerting audience experience. You and I know what happened in history, and the movie itself knows that we know, so it gleefully plays us against ourselves with teasing certain possible outcomes when we the audience but not the characters already know how horrible that would be. Sometimes the movie winks at us and dodges it, and sometimes it happens anyways... or sometimes both. As a result, despite the relatively sedate pace and the 2-hour runtime you'll be anxious throughout the whole thing (or at least I sure was).

And then the credits roll, and all the little built up bits just... settle. You breath out for what feels like the first time since the movie started, and the weight of it all moves you. Like I said, it's not about having big sudden gut punches in the story, so I didn't cry at all during the movie itself, but then I did - a lot - during the credits, as soon as it gave me the opportunity to think back about the whole thing at once. That's never happened before... and now I'm almost crying again thinking about it again...

This one was profound, guys, but not in the way you expect it, and not in a way I can think any other film has been for me. Watch it if you can.

[Dolmen 2.0]

D, on 08 July 2018 - 05:41 AM, said:

Tonight, I watched In This Corner of the World.

It is a very subtly potent film. Hearing about how it tells the story of a young woman, Suzu, from a town near Hiroshima living during WWII, you'd think this is another film that will *destroy* you with shock and grief, the way Grave of the Fireflies does. But that's not really what this movie is. This movie is not about the one big moment at all, it's about showing lots and lots and lots and lots of little moments of the character's everyday (yet not-so-everyday) life that build and build and build upon each other, some tragically and some joyously. It really is a "slice of life" in pace and style, with very few big cinematic moments, and those few big moments are the ones that most affect Suzu, rather than being the ones that most affect the rest of the world. There's hardly any larger historical context given nor any political moralizing, it really does just stick to its title and showcase the lives of Suzu and her family in one small corner of the world during these events (which is the point of the film - the director has said that his purpose in making this film is to teach the younger generations about what it was like for the ordinary citizens living during the war, rather than how the education system teaches about the war itself).

All of which makes for a disconcerting audience experience. You and I know what happened in history, and the movie itself knows that we know, so it gleefully plays us against ourselves with teasing certain possible outcomes when we the audience but not the characters already know how horrible that would be. Sometimes the movie winks at us and dodges it, and sometimes it happens anyways... or sometimes both. As a result, despite the relatively sedate pace and the 2-hour runtime you'll be anxious throughout the whole thing (or at least I sure was).

And then the credits roll, and all the little built up bits just... settle. You breath out for what feels like the first time since the movie started and the weight of it all moves you. Like I said, it's not about having big sudden gut punches in the story, so I didn't cry at all during the movie itself, but then I did - a lot - during the credits, as soon as it gave me the opportunity to think back about the whole thing at once. That's never happened before... and now I'm almost crying again thinking about it again...

This one was profound, guys, but not in the way you expect it, and not in a way I can think any other film has been for me. Watch it if you can.

Damn. That sounds intense, I'll add it to my watch list.

Thank you for the recommendation.

[Nicodimas]

I’m really enjoying Darling 13 episodes in and totally caught my attention.

I will admit the sheer fan service and redic on the way the mechs are controlled. /sub much?

Then wait they are accelerated in growth <they are 9??! According to one of the panels /eww>

Otherwise I wanna know even if its a simple plot line.

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 09 July 2018 - 03:29 AM

[Maark Abbott]

Start of the season:

Finished DITF. Not a bad ending as such but very Gainax. Evangelion intensifies.

Cells at Work is basically How Your Body Works but anime and violent.

Demon Lord is... Well, a lewd and predictable Issekai.

Dies Irae last few episodes have gone onto my list.

Angels of Death seems edgier than King's Game was.

Harukana Receive was very sunny and seems animated by the same studio that did New Game?

Ragnarok - another Issekai. Also seems lewd. Noticing a pattern here.

Island - this seems like it has potential to be intriguing.

Next to watch on my list: Hanebado! and Asobi Asobase.

[Dolmen 2.0]

Maark Abbott, on 09 July 2018 - 07:52 AM, said:

Cells at Work is basically How Your Body Works but anime and violent.

This was quite good.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Briar King, on 09 July 2018 - 07:26 PM, said:

Fate ELE Ep 1 was really cool and bloody. Will be watching the rest of the 10 episodes definitely. Reminds me of Persona 5.

i don't know whats more surprising, that we have ANOTHER BLOODY FATE SPINOFF? or the fact you're comparing it to persona 5 which the hype has me wanting to buy a ps4.

[Maark Abbott]

Also started Fate: UMU. Why does Nero's skirt have a butt hole?

Oh yeah and I started writing an isekai. Lul. Drek gonna slice me.

[D'rek]

Maark Abbott, on 11 July 2018 - 01:00 PM, said:

Oh yeah and I started writing an isekai. Lul. Drek gonna slice me.

Haha, good luck! I'm not against the whole "trapped in a fantasy-land" idea in principle! Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Thomas Covenant, not to mention many of my childhood books like Narnia and the Fionavar Tapestry. I'm not even against the "trapped in a fantasy-land that resembles a video game" concept... in principle! There's just lots of bad ones

[Maark Abbott]

D, on 11 July 2018 - 01:57 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 July 2018 - 01:00 PM, said:

Oh yeah and I started writing an isekai. Lul. Drek gonna slice me.

Haha, good luck! I'm not against the whole "trapped in a fantasy-land" idea in principle! Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Thomas Covenant, not to mention many of my childhood books like Narnia and the Fionavar Tapestry. I'm not even against the "trapped in a fantasy-land that resembles a video game" concept... in principle! There's just lots of bad ones

To be fair it's a pretty trashy genre.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Maark Abbott, on 12 July 2018 - 08:01 AM, said:

D, on 11 July 2018 - 01:57 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 11 July 2018 - 01:00 PM, said:

Oh yeah and I started writing an isekai. Lul. Drek gonna slice me.

Haha, good luck! I'm not against the whole "trapped in a fantasy-land" idea in principle! Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Thomas Covenant, not to mention many of my childhood books like Narnia and the Fionavar Tapestry. I'm not even against the "trapped in a fantasy-land that resembles a video game" concept... in principle! There's just lots of bad ones

To be fair it's a pretty trashy genre.

There was a lion in my wardrobe the other. I asked him what he was doing and he replied "Narnia Business"

Dad Jokes aside, this weeks been GOOOD!!!!!!

Went downtown on tuesday with a friend to see the AoT season2 movie as well as the premier of the season 3 episode. It was GOOOOOD

Spoiler

I did not expect the dude with 3dMG and guns, this arc gona be sick

So because I was a huge fan of Kaiji, im happy that they created a spinoff about one of the villains, Tonegawa. 2 episode in im loving it, not due to the emphasis on gambling or anything but because its a funny anime on management 101 which given i live the corporate life, i am enjoying. Not quite as good as agretsuko but still enjoying it.

Overlord s3: I continue to watch it, why i know not, neither why i enjoy it.

And thats it thus far.

[Dolmen 2.0]

I might join the Fate bandwagon.

What clips I have seen make it look quite enjoyable.

I watched Juuni Taisen final episode yesterday and I was surprised at how good it was.

Spoiler

give a person the chance to test 100 wishes and ofcourse it'd drive him crazy. I think he made the right choice. Selfish yes, but ultimately free of regret, remorse or self indulgence. It was appropriate for the theme underneathe the entire show. Anice introduction to Zen philosophy.