General Anime Thread

@DoubleX
Because the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

@DoubleX
Regular elves are the dignified ones, so the evil, usually subterranean ones or elves inspired by such are going to have weaker morals.

This technically happened yesterday, but I forgot to post it here.

Since the last episode of Shoegaze likely marks the end of the FLCL franchise, I wanted to take a moment to talk about all their sequels. I don’t think I’ve ever written down my thoughts on them and my feelings are a lot more complicated than the blanket statement of “They’re all terrible”. About as complicated as a FLCL plot, in fact.

Progressive is the only real sequel to FLCL, I feel like. And as such, it suffers as a result. I remember when this first aired back in 2018. It was the first new FLCL content we got since the original series 17 years ago. And to this day, I still don’t know what the creators were thinking when deciding to make the first new content in almost two decades a retelling of the original one.

I like the idea of it being from a girl’s perspective this time. Like, I get it. It’s a coming-of-age story like the original but this time from a girl instead of a boy. But the problem with this series that the other series don’t have is that instead of being in the spirit of FLCL, it tries to be like FLCL, and that was never gonna work out. It also has poor mixing issues with the music which, again, the show prides itself on its music. This show would not be the same without The Pillows. You couldn’t better mix the music with the dialogue?

At least it introduced people to Thank You, My Twilight.

This sequel is really the one big misfire of all of them. And because it came first, it clouded people’s judgment on what followed. Outside of Haruko talking about how big her penis is, there’s nothing to see here.

So, Alternative is the one sequel of FLCL that I feel is absolutely must watch. It’s in the style of FLCL, but it’s a slice of life, which is just awesome. I think if the show aired this sequel first instead of Progressive, reception to the sequels would’ve been more favorably. I remember at my local Best Buy in 2019 they were selling DVD copies of both Alternative and Progressive. And I made the conscious decision of buying just Alternative and not Progressive because I didn’t want to spend an extra $30 on something I didn’t really care for. Then a couple weeks later, I saw like a DVD copy of Alternative and Progressive together for $50 and I was like “I have a feeling I’m one of the few who’s going to buy Alternative on its own.” It in turn made it feel more special to me.

I know that when Alternative first aired, I was saying how I felt it was better than the original FLCL series. I don’t know if that opinion still holds up, because I haven’t seen it since it originally aired, but outside of the runway stuff, I don’t remember anything about Alternative, whereas I still remember certain FLCL scenes. Regardless, this is the one sequel series I think it’s worth checking out.

Getting through it quickly now, Grunge is another one that is quite interesting. It’s three episodes that span one night and are told from different perspectives, which is neat. However, it suffers from pacing issues and there’s not much that really stands out to me. It’s a quick watch, but outside of Haruko’s me too rant, there’s nothing really to see here.

And last, we have Shoegaze, which will probably be the last series of this franchise. I like that it’s a continuation of Alternative a bit. That tells me the show’s creators knew they had something with Alternative and that of all the sequel content, that one worked. I also like the main relationship being pushed here because of the tsundere vibes and for reminding me of Toradora, even though the fanservice felt unnecessary. My one knock on it is there’s barely any jokes in it. That seems like a cardinal sin considering humor is a key component of FLCL. I know Alternative was light on jokes, but this felt even lighter. If this series was a little bit funnier and maybe had one more episode, it might honestly be the best sequel series of FLCL.

Overall, while none of the sequels were able to capture the magic of the original, most of them still were able to capture the coming-of-age aspect of the show. And outside of Progressive, they all did their own thing and aimed to capture the spirit of FLCL, which in certain ways I feel like they did. I know some people would prefer if we never got any sequels because they think the sequels ruined the franchise’s reputation, but I’m glad we got these follow-ups. Because FLCL is certainly one of a kind.

Chainsaw Man Spoiler Ch. 146

okay, but imo there’s a problem with that plan.

Shy is so good

Anime that deserves to exist: I’m your latest conveyor belt isekai! What sets me apart is, um, -ruffles through pockets- I uh have a smartphone!

Jobless Reincarnation: NOOOOOO, you don’t get it! We need an entire season centered around our MC’s erectile dysfunction! How else will he fuck his 6yo sister and 6yo half-sister!

@Dustcan
hey man, rudy isn’t that type of protage.

give him some credit.

The only credit I’ll give is that he hasn’t tried to fuck his sister’s (yet), he just thinks they’re hot.

He did molest and later twice try to rape a 7yo though.

So, uh, no. I’d say “fuck him” but that’s literally what this 40yo wants and spent his entire reincarnation trying to do.

@Dustcan
…you did watch the show right? Cuz that part didn’t happen.

Yeah both parts did. And both done to Eris.

Jujutsu Kaisen is a “It woulda been different had this been that type of anime” type of anime.

It be playing with your feelings too much.

“This Shy anime is great, but I don’t know how it can possibly get better”

“You son of a bitch, take all my money”

Try not to be too jealous because I’m gonna go see “Spirited Away” tomorrow, the final movie in Ghibli Fest 2023.

The latest episode of Uma Musume had a blink-and-you-miss it reference to Nice Boat

I’m also going to see “The Boy and the Heron” when it hits theaters in December.

@Dimitrescu’s Toy
Me as well

You know Christian Bale, who voiced Howl in “Howl’s Moving Castle”, was preparing for his role in “Batman Begins” at the time?

@Dimitrescu’s Toy
I did not. I knew he did both around the same time, but that’s pretty cool.