It’s a new week, which means a new general discussion thread. Have you been able to find something interesting to watch this summer season? Diving back into the archive of yesteryear to watch an oldie? Want to espouse the virtues of a hidden gem? Let’s chat about it!
As always, remember to be mindful of spoilers. If you want to know more about how to handle spoilers in this community, check the guide here (also linked in the sidebar).
This past weekend, I was able to attend another showing of a Ghibli movie in my local theater as part of Ghibli Fest happening this year. This time, it was Princess Mononoke. Due to my schedule, I was attending on a day where the English dub was screening.
One thing that really struck me watching it on the big screen was the soundtrack. It had been years since I last watched Mononoke, and even then, I had watched it at a Ghibli themed party that was full of other people milling about, chatting, eating, etc. So, the soundtrack was not really shown in the best light at my previous viewing. This time though, the soundtrack was really great and was definitely the most impactful thing on me from watching it on the big screen.
Another thing I noticed this time was how much effort went into animating some of the sequences. I can’t even imagine all the work put into animating all the little squiggly, wormy bits of the demons, or how much effort went into animating the transparency portions of the forest spirit.
Something I had a question about when I left the theater was the importance of the crystal dagger. I talked to a friend afterwards and did a little research and found out that the crystal daggers symbolism was impacted by the localization from Japanese to English. Story spoiler below for more:
Crystal Dagger Changes
I have only ever seen the dub for this movie (that I can remember), so I only ever knew the character that gives Ashitaka the crystal dagger, Kaya, as his sister. However, Kaya’s relationship to Ashitaka in the original Japanese was that of a betrothed. When localizing to English, Disney changed it to sister instead. I guess arranged marriages between kids were a step too far for them.
Anyway, so the crystal dagger is really something like a wedding ring. So, when Ashitaka makes sure that San gets the dagger, it is essentially a proposal. The fact that the dagger is the thing that he sees when he is trying to rescue her is symbolic that their love is what is pulling them through the darkness.
Overall, it was a great experience. I don’t know what the next movie in the list I will be able to do (I think probably Kiki, but it isn’t set in stone yet).
I’ve finally gotten around to watching Frieren. Overall, really enjoying it, though it isn’t exactly what I expected from the first episode.
I went in blind as the comments I saw were so positive. The first episode seemed very serious, and I expected more of a Violet Evergarden story. I’m now on Ep 23, and I’d describe it as a mix of Violet Evergarden and Helck, which I’m feeling good about, as I liked both of those, but VE was too sad and Helck was too silly, so Frieren has been hitting the sweet spot.
Also been watching Suicide Squad Isekai. Not exactly a fan, but I thought the movies were fine, so I’m giving this a shot. I feel it’s about the same quality.
Slowly catching up on Reincarnated as a Slime as well. I’m caught up on the manga, so not really I’m a hurry on this one. I’m a but less interested in it than I initially was, but the characters are still all likeable, so I stick with it.
Currently watching Serial Experiments Lain. I watched the 13 episodes around 2006/07, as I left my parents’ house and got my first personal computer to study CS at university. It’s 2024 and what the fuck is going on please…
Last season I made threads for every show I watched (which is all of them), but this time I figured I’d only make threads for ones I’m actually going to keep watching, so I’m going to dump all my thoughts about the dregs in his thread instead:
The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army Was a Human
Quite bland and uninspired with not a lot going for it. Its politics is at least halfway decent (MC is giving the peasants more rights), but how it gets there is by implying that only humans are capable of empathizing with humans. I’ve heard that the original story was an isekai and the adaptation replaced real life japan with “a mysterious ancient civilization”, which seems to serve no purpose and definitely made things a bit more confusing. 1/5
The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible
This seems like it’s aiming for the same tone as last dungeon boonies with the “I think I’m weak but actually I’m strong”, but whereas last dungeon boonies was funny and charming, this one is, uh, not. Also, 32 is not “ossan” age. 1/5
Days with My Stepsister
A more realistic take on the step-sibling romance genre. Our leads seem pretty emotionally mature and capable of having adult conversations and not drifting into hormonal drama, which is something I’m typically all for. At times I couldn’t help but read the female lead as being on the autism spectrum, with how clearly frustrated she is with most social situations where people don’t want to clarify the unwritten social rules, which is always neat to see (even if it’s just my interpretation and not canon). The post-credits scene of her struggling to turn off the hall light was also very funny and relatable. All that said, I still didn’t really like it, mostly because it was just so painfully slow. I spent most of the episode bored out of my mind begging for something to happen, and nothing ever did. I feel like there’s a good story in here, but I don’t have the patience to wait for it. 2/5
Red Cat Ramen
The CGI looks terrible in this show, especially the ramen, and it was hard for me to get past that. Some of the jokes worked, but it was just hard to take anything seriously when it looked that bad that often. 1/5
2.5 Dimensional Seduction
After finishing this episode and feeling like there was some probably some censorship at play, I looked up the manga and learned that it was originally basically softcore porn. It seems like the adaptation is trying to get away from that and make it into a normal romance / Dress-up Darling ripoff, but like honestly I don’t understand the point of this story if it’s not going full horny. The main girl does not at all act like a human person, but rather a porn character, and the plot seems to twist itself into putting them in situations to be horny at each other. And like, if that’s what the anime was aiming for, that’s not for me but that’s fine. But without the nipples and the ass shots and the underboob, I just don’t know who this is for? The main characters of this anime would be ashamed to see their story adapted like this. 2/5
A Nobody's Way Up to an Exploration Hero
The setting of this one is a little interesting, with the theme park built around a dungeon that seems to be equal parts tourist attraction and adventurer workplace, but the plot seemed a little weak and generic. My main issue with the show is the two summons the main character has, who both appear to be little girls who are basically his slaves. I normally don’t trust anime very much with young girls, but this one especially seemed off, with the first one, Sylphy, calling MC “goshujin-sama” and getting a detailed close-up of her mouth while eating, and then the ED made it clear to me that yes, the audience is meant to find the child summons attractive. I learned later that they changed Sylphy’s design from the manga / light novel, where she was still quite short but was proportioned like an adult woman, which makes me wonder what on earth the anime’s character designers were thinking. 2/5
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Apart from the CGI rice stalks, this one was actually quite good, as far as set-up episodes go. It set the stakes and goals and characterized the main character very effectively. My issue is that I found Sakuna to be an extremely unlikable brat who I couldn’t bring myself to root for. I’m sure that changes over time, but I just sort of can’t stand her as she is at the beginning of the story. For those who can, it seems like it’ll probably be a fun show. One last small gripe, though: there is a faint bird call in the audio track for a lot of the scenes that was driving me nuts while watching and I haven’t heard anyone else even acknowledge and I feel like I’m going crazy. 3/5
Weekly ranking roundup:
- Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
- Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: My Deer Friend Nokotan
- Anime Trending - Weekly Winner: Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian
Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.
The brain rot has set in over on reddit as Nokotan finds her way to the top of the chart. Elsewhere, Alya manages to hold onto the top spot. Alya has been a bit of a surprise for me this season, so we’ll see if she is able to maintain as we go.
