Anime/Manga Journal

[Mickeymac92]

I'm still skimming the frst two arcs of DB Super. It's been a real slog. So much worse than the movies, but I think I've watched most of the new scenes that matter so far. I'll start up the new third arc soon-ish. Hopefully tomorrow, or at least this weekend.

[Rook]

I initally thought that Aldermain on the Sky was some generic shonen for some reason. However hey it was excellent and not some generic shonen at all. People should watch it! Pity because they it set up nicely for season 2 but supposedly it tanked so hard that the LN was even cancelled.

 Tatami Galaxy, yea, I wanted to like it but the dialogue comes toward you at ludicrious speed and I spent whole episodes not watching anything while trying to follow the subtitles.

Recently watched Grimgar again. I think even liked it more the 2nd time. I'm always a sucker for that like of watercolor/sketch backround art style and I think of an anime that did fights better.

[Kevadu]

Pretty sure I recommended Alderamin when it was still new...yup, I did.

But what's this about the LN being canceled?  According to wikipedia there's another volume coming out in just a few days.  Looks like it's been releasing twice a year pretty consistently.

[Rucks]

rewatching Samurai 7. Still great.

Kurosawa was a genius.  I've seen his stuff remade dozens of times and it still mostly holds up.

[Rook]

Pretty sure I recommended Alderamin when it was still new...yup, I did.

But what's this about the LN being canceled?  According to wikipedia there's another volume coming out in just a few days.  Looks like it's been releasing twice a year pretty consistently.

I went online to find out if there was ever going to be a season and read posts that the anime tanked and there are no more LNs coming out. I assumed it to be true because the internet is never wrong.

anime strike has Garden of Sinners. well done amazon.

besides the holy crap where did this WTF love triangle come from Samuari 7 was a lot of fun.

[Mickeymac92]

I figured I'd get a head start on looking at next season's anime, since I've been in the mood for some new anime in general. Been in sort of a rut for a while now.

The chart: http://anichart.net/Winter-2018

Only standouts for me personally are Trigger and A-1 picture's joint project, "DARLING in the FRANXX" - not just because of the people who are working on it, it just really sounds like my bag. Also the second season of "The Seaven Deadly Sins," though I might have to wait since I watch it on Netflix (maybe? I'll have to look and see whether they're simulcasting it or not).

There are others of note, of course:

Overlord 2 - I know some people here were looking forward to this. I really didn't care for the first season, it just doesn't seem like a story I could get behind. Still, it'd be nice if the second season is more faithful/a better adaption of that continued story, instead of rushing through what I'm told was an important arc.

Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls - a sequel to Basilisk, a series I have never seen, but at least I've heard of it.

Fate/Extra Last Encore - an anime adaption of the PSP game, Fate/Extra, presumedly so you don't have to put up with the gameplay to get to the good part now. I personally dislike the Fate series for a number of reasons, but I think there are a few members here who might be interested in how this turns out.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card - The adaption of the Cardcaptor Sakura sequel manga. I honestly haven't seen more than a single episode of the uncut version of Cardcaptor Sakura, and I still don't think it'd be something I'd get into. Still, it's interesting that it's getting a televised sequel after all this time. It really does feel like the 90's all over again!

Also, there's a sequel to The Silver Guardian. I barely even remember that being a thing.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki 2 andHitori no Shita: The Outcast 2nd Season are two other shows in that same bhoat. I completely forgot these were ever a thing, but I guess someone was asking for them(?)

You would think I'd be interested in Killing Bites, but I honestly haven't been more turned off by a series description in quite some time.

...that's all I got. Oh, and Yowamushi Pedal has a 4th season now...I still haven't seen the first season, since I'm not really into sports anime.

[Chronix112]

Next  season seems really meh to me.  I got a feeling a lot of people that are into Overlord are not gonna dig season 2 that much, at least for the 1st half of the season.

I am kinda interested in how Fate Extra turns out.

Will avoid Death March like it carries the plague.

[Annubis]

Pffff that last next season review is weak. There's not enough emphasis on Isekais.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen
New (anime) material from a side-story. Solid team so quality should be pretty good.

Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku
Satou gets transported to another world. He's almighty but actually doesn't feel like doing much with his power so he prefers the idea of just wandering around and try to live a normal life. Too bad he's a nice person and ends up saving others (and gathering more and more of a harem).

Fate/EXTRA Last Encore
Fate side content. Just like last season's FATE, don't expect anything impressive.
I guess Type-moon is starting to scrape the FATE barrel here.

Hitori no Shita: The Outcast 2nd Season
Season 1 was surprisingly good. It's a mystic / martial art action anime.
The main girl is quite something and makes the whole thing interesting (and by that I mean the plot around her)
I remember the plot of the last 2 episodes of season 1 being minor mind blown.

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san
Good comedy/life manga so likely good anime. Takagi keeps teasing Nishikata who swears that one day he'll stop falling to her pranks.
Takagi is a master troll. The author even had a chapter where she trolled the entire readership. It was magnificent.

Koi wa Ameagari no You ni
After a long depression due to an injury, a high school girl falls in love with a widowed old man that has a kid who helped her when she needed help.
Her love isn't being taken seriously by the man though who simply dismisses it. The story is her struggling to try and prove that she wants a serious relationship.
Don't expect some moe moe high school girl pandering here. This is seinen (serious adult).

Overlord 2
This season goes mostly away from the cast of season 1 and instead for a good while focuses on entirely new characters.
A brave move from the author that could have tanked the whole novel, but the new characters end up being endearing and interesting to the point where you root for them... as they fight... *REDACTED*

Pop Team Epic
Have you ever wondered what a meme gag manga written by an gamer / troll / NEET / otaku on acid would look like?
It would probably be awful and nobody would publish it... and then there's Pop Team Epic.
Give it a watch just to see if you like the humor. It's weird but it can be pretty damn funny if it's your kind of humor.

Black Clover
It's continuing... so this video will only get longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA_CjK_Rbd8

Dragon Ball Super
UNIVERSE SURVIVAL ARC

As for specials/movies/ova... there's seriously nothing at all.

[Mickeymac92]

Sorry, but every light novel adaption I've seen so far has been utterly disappointing, so I just stopped caring.

RE: Black Clover - oh, so it really is Naruto all over again? Complete with a screaming, obnoxious protagonist? Great...

[Kevadu]

Death March is shit even by isekai webnovel standards...and those aren't very high.

I don't know, I'm pretty meh on the whole upcoming season.  Hopefully something will surprise me...

[Mickeymac92]

Oh hey, I found one that I didn't see on the list: Hakyu Hoshin Engi

A new adaption of a 90's manga. Looks pretty rad, reminds me why I loved those 90s anime designs. Very expressive.

[Ranadiel]

RE: Black Clover - oh, so it really is Naruto all over again? Complete with a screaming, obnoxious protagonist? Great...

Black Clover has the same relationship to Naruto that Fairy Tail has to One Piece from what I saw before I dropped the manga. I think the only reason it is "popular" (and I use the term loosely) is because it is effectively serving as a first shonen series to a lot of children who don't recognize the repeated beats because of how many years ago the plot beats last showed up in Naruto or other Shonen.

[Tomara]

Yep, it's basically a series made for a new generation of readers. My youngest writer entered the scene a couple of years ago, and he's pretty fond of the manga. Meanwhile, all my older writers including myself have absolutely zero patience for Black Clover, because to us it's yet another remix of the tried and true Shonen Jump recipe. We just want to watch series about cyborg grampas and dictionary makers, and yell at kids to get of our lawn.

That said, the writers in my generation also have a shonen series or two they grew up with that's special to them. I have a soft spot for Bleach and Inu Yasha, and I know someone who's really happy right now, because his old favourite is suddenly getting a brand new anime adaptation next season.

Speaking of shonen, I got the first volume of Astra Lost in Space to review and that turned out to be a surprisingly fun read. It starts out with a wellknown premise: kids get stranded in some deserted place and try to get home. But in space. Lots of things about their situation are suspicious, and they need to get along to survive, but one of them might be a mole. There are plenty of clichés (heroine is a ditz, hero yells a lot), but the author makes it work by either turning them upside down (main guy does have actual survival skills and leadership abilities) or having characters outgrow their archetype by means of character development. It's nothing groundbreaking (and the answers to the mysteries could make or break the story), but it's a good start and I want to stick with it to see where it goes. It's 6 or 7 volumes, I think? Once I'm done with them, I could probably hand them over to my younger cousin who's just gotten into reading comics in English.

[Ranadiel]

Yep, it's basically a series made for a new generation of readers. My youngest writer entered the scene a couple of years ago, and he's pretty fond of the manga. Meanwhile, all my older writers including myself have absolutely zero patience for Black Clover, because to us it's yet another remix of the tried and true Shonen Jump recipe. We just want to watch series about cyborg grampas and dictionary makers, and yell at kids to get of our lawn.

That said, the writers in my generation also have a shonen series or two they grew up with that's special to them. I have a soft spot for Bleach and Inu Yasha, and I know someone who's really happy right now, because his old favourite is suddenly getting a brand new anime adaptation next season.

Speaking of shonen, I got the first volume of Astra Lost in Space to review and that turned out to be a surprisingly fun read. It starts out with a wellknown premise: kids get stranded in some deserted place and try to get home. But in space. Lots of things about their situation are suspicious, and they need to get along to survive, but one of them might be a mole. There are plenty of clichés (heroine is a ditz, hero yells a lot), but the author makes it work by either turning them upside down (main guy does have actual survival skills and leadership abilities) or having characters outgrow their archetype by means of character development. It's nothing groundbreaking (and the answers to the mysteries could make or break the story), but it's a good start and I want to stick with it to see where it goes. It's 6 or 7 volumes, I think? Once I'm done with them, I could probably hand them over to my younger cousin who's just gotten into reading comics in English.

While Bleach and Inu Yasha both have problems, most of those problems come up later in the series (such as Kubo being unable to manage a large cast effectively), whereas Black Clover's biggest problem for me was that the main character was pretty much unlikable from the word go.

On the topic of Astra, I got Vol. 1 as well. I have heard good things about it and I enjoyed it as well. I don't know how many volumes it is in total, but it was recently announced that the series is wrapping up, so it will be a short series overall.

[Tomara]

End of December at... 47 chapters, IIRC. There are 7 chapters in the first volume, but the first chapter is 60 pages instead of the usual ~26 and I wouldn't be surprised if the last one is a long one as well (or we get some sort of epilogue).

While Bleach and Inu Yasha both have problems, most of those problems come up later in the series (such as Kubo being unable to manage a large cast effectively), whereas Black Clover's biggest problem for me was that the main character was pretty much unlikable from the word go.

I heard Black Clover gets better as the cast grows, though the characters to tend to stay rather archetypical.

Not that'd it help me get into it. Even without the YELLING, Asta is exactly the kind of shonen protagonist I can't stand: one-track mind and too stupid to live. There's so much more they could have done with the premise of a character without magic born in a world were magic is everything. It doesn't have to be as dark as Gustave from Saga Frontier or something like that, but it would have been cool if he had, I don't know, used his wits to overcome what is essentially a disability. Instead of, you know, endless sit-ups, YELLING and a deus-ex-machina sword.

This is probably why I liked Bleach. Ichigo may be impulsive, but he's not an idiot. It was just nice to see that he actually made an effort to do well in school. Sadly, his type isn't too common. Aside from the occassional detective, shonen heroes tend to be not very smart. In fact, many are as dumb as bricks. I wonder if that's meant to make them more relatable? I know the Japanese school system can be very demanding, so maybe characters that don't do well when it comes to intellectual stuff are more relatable?

It's very jarring though for older readers. All I could think when I first read Naruto is that they should probably put the boy in some sort of special ed class, because it's obvious he can't keep up and keeps disrupting class.