[Tsundoku]

Watching "Handyman Saitou in Another World", and 10 minutes into the first episode the high level old wizard guy gives a history lesson about their basic unit of measurement (about a foot) and how it was from the length of this ancient king's ... appendage. And of course the high level old wizard guy is sliding into dementia. I predict shit is about to get weird.

EDIT: Yup, it got weird. But funny. Some nice risqué puns as well.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 08 March 2026 - 12:30 PM

[QuickTidal]

QuickTidal, on 12 January 2026 - 09:43 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 12 January 2026 - 08:08 PM, said:

Jujutsu Kaisen has something of a wild up and down sort of vibe.

When it's about punching demons in the face really hard, it's really good.

When it tries to do story, it's really bad.

That’s a fair way to view it actually.

I started into S2 of this and it's SO much better now. I dunno if it's resonating more with me than s1 (so much setup), or developed enough of its own vibe for me to be into it. Either way, I'm probably in for the long haul now.

[QuickTidal]

First a PSA and heads up: Crunchyroll was apparently data breached to the tune of 100gigs of data. Change your passwords, and check your CC info if you used it directly with the site instead of a third party like PayPal.

[QuickTidal]

Second, I am not knee deep in The Shibuya Incident of JJK and let me vigorously take back what I said before...Season 1 was table setting, because Season 2 (The Hidden Inventory Arc, The 0 movie, and now Shibuya) is PEAK anime...my gods. I can't believe how pedestrian the first season seems to this excellence.

I'm ALL in now on this show.

Fave character (Other than Gojo obvs) so far is Mei Mei, with Maki Ze'nin as a runner up.

[QuickTidal]

Oh hell yeah, I'm in! This looks so much closer to the original manga!

[D'rek]

After the last few GitS... anythings... I am not taking the chance. Just going to keep pretending only the first two movies ever existed.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 19 January 2026 - 04:34 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 January 2026 - 04:19 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 16 January 2026 - 08:52 PM, said:

FRIEREN IS BACK WE ARE SO BACK PEAK HAS RETURNED

so let me ask you Maark... ive watched the first few eps of S1, it's all very chill, low action, low energy drama, F wanders around staring at her dying mortal friends and reminiscing at getting stuck in mimics... it's cute, it's well done, but doesn't grab me because bluntly no one is fighting anything. Does this pick up the pace or is the tone consistent throughout?

It's a slowly paced drama, with emotional weight, and introspective storytelling. It's got adventuring in it, but the slow pace does not go away. What sucks people in is the story and the characters and the emotion.

D, on 20 January 2026 - 04:26 AM, said:

What QT said... but also every handful of episodes or so there ABSOLUTELY is an incredibly well animated, super duper hype fight as well. And the soundtrack is incredible. Also great cinematography. I highly implore you to give it a try up to episode 6, Abyss, to see if the first big fight wets your appetite (though the one around episode 11 is the one that everyone really really really gushes about, for good reason).

QuickTidal, on 28 January 2026 - 12:34 PM, said:

...

Also Abyss, there its an action sequence about midway through S1 that was just amazing start to finish and lasted at least two episodes.

Abyss, on 03 March 2026 - 03:01 PM, said:

... landed back on FRIEREN... chilling on the couch w a drink this works better for me and watched a few more eps. I need something w a faster pace and more frequent action for workout watching... characters in gently waving fields languidly watching clouds does not exactly propel me.

Quote

FRIEREN is SO enjoyable, and I agree it's a "have a glass of wine and enjoy though. There are big fights later, but it's never going to be a shounen anime.

A few more eps, and yeah, the fight w the demons was nicely done, both the students' fights and F's throwdown w Aura, which, i have to admit, had a perfectly lovely conclusion.

I'm appreciating the subtlety of it, how Frieren has been and continues to be influenced by these short lived people around her and vice versa... Fern imitating F's detachedness but breaking as she interacts w Stark and others, Stark realizing oh hey i maybe can be the hero i was told i was, Sein trusting F w the five seconds necessary to win the fight.... It still jars me that an entire ep can culminate in a seriously low key low impact scene like Freiren finding a piece of jewelry, but it works once i wrapped my brain around what they are going for.


Also i have INVINCIBLE S4 for the gym, so i'm covered.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 30 March 2026 - 12:29 PM, said:

Oh hell yeah, I'm in! This looks so much closer to the original manga!

Fascinating, i would have considered the original movie and SAC near flawless, yet this looks very watchable.

[D'rek]

Abyss, on 30 March 2026 - 08:42 PM, said:

but it works once i wrapped my brain around what they are going for

one of us
one of us
one of us
one of us
one of us

[QuickTidal]

JJK The Culling Game arc is weak. I'm caught up the end of S3 Part 1 which is all that's been animated. Like I get the concept, but after the emotional roller coaster that was the Shibuya incident, Culling Game feels like the creator just smashing action figures together in "cool" ways? Like there is nothing really DEEP here narratively. It's basically cleanup after the Shibuya incident released so many curses.

So far, I think the best arc of this anime is easily the Hidden Inventory (Gojo's past) arc...it's tightly made (only about 6 eps I think?) but goes through a really REALLY emotional core story, and gives so much gravitas to the use of Geto's body in the future for Gojo. I think if nothing else after this in the JJK Manga (which I hear is finished now) is at that level, then those six episodes will stand as the peak achievement of this whole story.

I'm not complaining to much, Culling Game had cool fights, but that's all it is this far...we will see if Part 2 changes that view.


Now I've gotta finish S2 of FREIREN and then I want to catch up on KONOSUBA, and HELL'S PARADISE.

[D'rek]

Yeah but that's not much different than JJK season 1 or season 2 I'd say. The whole "let's collect the fingers" thing lasted like 4 seconds. The whole school setting thing just ended up being a way to bring in the other 'class' of characters for a fight and then we never saw them at school again. The whole twist about

Spoiler

the villain isn't even gojo's old friend, it's just some evil dude that took over his body, so there's no interesting emotional connection or bitter irony after all

was such a let down. Then the movie brought in that other guy who is supposed to steal the show even more away from the original trio?

Yeah, the Hidden Inventory bit actually stuck to its story and told it nicely, but that's only because it was structured as a self-contained flashback in a small number of episodes. And even then it was like S2 starting with "wow so we're finally admitting Yuta was never the main character and letting everything be about Gojo". Don't get me wrong, JJK has always had moments of brilliance mixed in there. Heck, I cried at that one train scene. But I gave up any expectations for the storytelling being even halfway competent around the middle of season 1.

(Though I still haven't checked out the new season yet, so who knows maybe despite having zero expectations already I'll somehow still end up being disappointed by it, too.)

[QuickTidal]

CLASSROOM OF THE ELITE returned, 4 eps of from Season 3 are out, so I'm now trying to catch up. I don't know why I love this property so much...it's just private school and politicking, but I'm fascinated.

[QuickTidal]

For anyone who hasn't checked out the new anime by Hiromu Arakawa (Full Metal Alchemist) called DAEMONS OF THE SHADOW REALM...one episode of that is up and it's straight FIRE.

Also the first two eps of the WITCH HAT ATELIER anime are on crunchryroll too.

[QuickTidal]

Watched the first two eps of WITCH HAT ATELIER and they were...amazing. This has a shot at being something really special. I was enthralled from the first few minutes all the way through both eps. Watched with my daughter, and she also loved them.

[QuickTidal]

First episode of MARRIAGETOXIN was awesome. Unexpected twist on the Shounen anime and full LGBTQ+ representation which is rare.

Spoiler

Finding out Mei is either a male crossdresser marriage swindler, or a trans female (I'm not sure and apparently it's intentionally kept obscure in the manga) was a great moment that adds layers to this, and if the plan is to have her/him as endgame romance for Gero that's gotta be a first for a shonen no? either way.

Anyways, it's got great action, powers, slapstick and a tonne of wholesomeness packed into that first ep and the score was even on point. I'm definitely adding it to my weekly watch list.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 10 April 2026 - 02:29 PM

[D'rek]

QuickTidal, on 10 April 2026 - 02:28 PM, said:

First episode of MARRIAGETOXIN was awesome. Unexpected twist on the Shounen anime and full LGBTQ+ representation which is rare.

Spoiler

Finding out Mei is either a male crossdresser marriage swindler, or a trans female (I'm not sure and apparently it's intentionally kept obscure in the manga) was a great moment that adds layers to this, and if the plan is to have her/him as endgame romance for Gero that's gotta be a first for a shonen no? either way.

Anyways, it's got great action, powers, slapstick and a tonne of wholesomeness packed into that first ep and the score was even on point. I'm definitely adding it to my weekly watch list.

Yeah, that debut episode was a lot of fun!

Spoiler

I don't think it's a 'first' for shonen (especially if we're including manga without anime adaptations in there) as there *are* at least a handful of predecessors. Cheeky Angel is the first one that comes to mind for me as an older shonen anime adaptation where the main romance is between a trans girl and a boy. But regardless of if it's a first or not, for sure it's definitely great to see more LGBTQ+ representation in a high-profile production like this that isn't shlocky "trap" tropes and looks like it'll be taken fairly seriously.

[QuickTidal]

Oh for sure, I didn’t know about those others but yeah it’s great
To see!

[QuickTidal]

Finished Season 1 of MY DRESS UP DARLING, and I liked it. It's very sweet and a lot of it is very wholesome. It's got an overt amount of fan service early on but it cools off later in the season. I like having 1 or 2 RomCom anime to watch and this one is just really funny and decently animated. I also wanted to step out and find more series where the Mangaka is a woman to diversify my watching.

I feel like my only complaints with it are that Marin's cosplay/anime/manga obsession is over the top to the point where she kind of emotionally overreacts to even the most banal elements of her hobby. Gojo is also too passive overall for the energy that Marin presents, so when he's talking clothes and sewing he's super calm, but the minute anything remotely risky happens around Marin and the other girls he becomes like the most bashful dude you've ever met...and at first it's endearing, but a little later it becomes a big jarring once he really should have settled into how Marin is around him and he doesn't quite.

That said, the finale for S1 being a festival was lovely. I'm definitely going to watch S2 (which I hear is even less fan-servicey, so that's good) and see how things end up. In know the manga is finished, so if they never do S3 I can just finish it there.

---------

Also

Spring Crunchyroll Anime lineup that I'm checking out on the regular. Not sure if anyone else is watching these.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm (Saturdays)

Witch Hat Atelier (Mondays)

DoroHeDoro (Wednesday's)

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 13 April 2026 - 02:54 PM

[Maark Abbott]

I have something like thirty shows this season. It is PACKED.

Quick, if you want something ridiculous but also pretty wholesome, check out Reborn as a Vending Machine.

[QuickTidal]

Maark Abbott, on 14 April 2026 - 06:10 AM, said:

I have something like thirty shows this season. It is PACKED.

Quick, if you want something ridiculous but also pretty wholesome, check out Reborn as a Vending Machine.

It's on my watchlist, I'll move it up the list. Thanks man!