Author Topic: What Anime are you watching? (Read 434022 times)

B E C K · « **Reply #2940 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 02:09:01 AM »

I don't recall if we ever did. I remember this one reviewer sperging out about it but unsure if that ever came up on this board.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2941 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 02:21:36 AM »

Sperging!

Is that good or bad?

B E C K · « **Reply #2942 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 11:50:46 AM »

A dude from Cinema Blend gave Turning Red a poorly-worded low review and the internet jumped on his ass. You can take from his review that he's basically "ew, teenage Asian girl movie. no universal appeal" and he went in with this mindset from the offset. He never should've reviewed the movie, frankly. Again, I haven't seen this movie so I have no idea if I would enjoy it or think it's good or not. But unique story perspectives do have 'universal appeal' as long as they still tell a human story at it's core: something with love and loss, embarrassment and pain and stakes of some sort. This guy actually wrote:

"By rooting Turning Red very specifically in the Asian community of Toronto, the film legitimately feels like it was made for Domee Shi’s friends and immediate family members. Which is fine… but also, a tad limiting in its scope."

Like, there's nothing wrong with rooting a film in a specific community. I'm not a fucking criminal and I enjoyed both Infernal Affairs and The Departed. Not being a Chinese man in Hong Kong or a white American-Irish man in Boston has no bearing on my enjoyment. Complaining about a specific community being featured is bs.

He also does some icky things like calling a movie about a child "the horniest movie in Pixar history."

I have the feeling he might've had some legitimate criticism (like the manic feeling in the movie, which I notice the majority of modern movies gravitate to) but his wording in the review was loaded. The reviewer and Cinema Blend apologized and Cinema Blend replaced the review completely. Frankly, I would've liked it if they just had the guy rewrite the review. It would've been more of a learning experience for him to examine his biases. Instead, it's always quicker to rugsweep.

Linking this Medium article talking about the review because the review was removed: https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/disneys-turning-red-review-pixar-transforms-period-perils-into-a-warm-fuzzy-and-empowering-coming-of-age-tale

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2943 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 02:15:46 PM »

Yikes.

As for the horniness thing, I can at least see how he arrived there. Not that the audience is made to feel horny, but the female lead is quite literally horny. It's all wrapped up in adolescence, and getting her period for the first time, and suddenly "noticing" all the boys around her. The way they depict it is innocent enough, but the subtext is very, very clear.

It's not quite like the time that guy reviewed live-action Dora the Explorer and proceeded to let his readers know how horny it made him feel personally.

B E C K · « **Reply #2944 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 02:27:03 PM »

I don't recall if I ever heard about the Dora thing or not.

Rodent of Unusual Size · « **Reply #2945 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 07:13:09 PM »

Your life just isn't complete!

B E C K · « **Reply #2946 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 08:53:00 PM »

I watched Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity: Grand Temple of Time - Solomon. I already expected to not like it so much. I just wanted to see what servants would appear.

Surprisingly, the first thirty to forty minutes or so started out pretty strong. I was actually wondering if the Fate franchise was gonna surprise me by delivering a gem in the end. The first Fate/Grand Order is something I enjoyed a lot. The weak main characters had better characters to play off of and a tighter story to work with. I thought maybe for the home stretch, we'd get something like the first one with this one.

Ha ha, no.

-A boring villain talks about stuff and is edgy for about seventy minutes of the ninety minute run time. (Most of this movie is standing around and talking.) He also looks terrible. And I say this understanding Fate designs in general are supremely lazy. They tried to make a cool final boss but he looks drawn by a thirteen year old.
-The cool heroic spirits arrive and then mostly stand around looking cool. Then they leave. Later they come back again. Then they leave.
-The heroine dies but then doesn't. The "hero" gets nearly everything done for him again. Whatever.
-The fish faces continue to get progressively worse. I've commented on this before back with Unlimited Blade Works and I have noticed that with each subsequent work, the faces get more and more... floundery. See attachment. And these aren't inbetween frames. The shots linger on these angles while the characters have a touching farewell before the heroine sacrifices herself (and is unsacrificed by the end of the movie). The fuck are these faces? I know anime faces take liberties but eyes don't work that way. What the fuck are you doing?

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2947 on:** Jul 15, 2022, 11:09:36 PM »

Sorry to derail again:

https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/dora-explorer-movie-sexist-review/

And those anime faces are definitely fucking weird.

B E C K · « **Reply #2948 on:** Jul 16, 2022, 03:05:45 PM »

I tried watching the anime film "The Journey." It's been on my list of things I wanted to watch for a while. The idea of a Saudi/Japanese co-production (with Toei, no less) sounded interesting along with the film itself being based on an historical event for Mecca. But, man... I will admit I didn't bother with it anymore after about twenty-eight minutes.

The film starts in media res with people being stomped by elephants. I assume they started with this because this is the exciting part or whatever. From the event/story this is based on, the elephants stopping and refusing to enter Mecca is a major turning point. It irritates me that the film blew this element right at the opening of the story.

After the elephant part, the movie then flashes back to earlier events. I half-expected to hear a record scratch and a narrator telling me "you're probably wondering how I got into this predicament." Then it keeps flashing back. There's a flashback within the flashback. Then we return to the first flashback and flashback to something else. Then another flashback. Then it's storytime so we cut away for the story. It got old fast. I was getting legit irritated with the constant cutting away. While cutting away gave us crucial information to understanding the character and narrative, it removed all dramatic tension in the process. It reminded me of watching Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and having all of the cool action scenes constantly interrupted for bullshit.

There was a shell of something interesting in The Journey. The main character's flashbacks had substance. But the storytelling method itself within this movie did the material a disservice.

So as an example, when the main character was a child, he and his parents were on their way to Mecca when they were ambushed by bandits. The parents are killed and the mc stolen away to work for the bandits along with other captured children. They are branded and fed scraps. They are forced to steal and comply with murder. One day the mc and another child attempt an escape but only the mc gets away. This is told through a flashback. But this story would've made a fantastic opening scene that allows us to meet and connect with the mc. His friend actually survived so it would've been a dramatic moment to have opened the movie with the mc's childhood trauma and then, once he's a man, his old friend re-appears. They should've allowed us to be invested in this character's tale and saved the elephants for later.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2949 on:** Jul 16, 2022, 03:49:58 PM »

All those flashbacks happened within the first 28 minutes?!

Or you ended up scrubbing through the rest of it after you got bored?

Rodent of Unusual Size · « **Reply #2950 on:** Jul 16, 2022, 05:28:27 PM »

I'm glad to see that Devil Is A Part-Timer is getting a second season, even if it is, like, a decade after the first. A fan must have wound up in charge of that company or something, damn.

B E C K · « **Reply #2951 on:** Jul 16, 2022, 08:28:37 PM »

Quote from: joerammstein on Jul 16, 2022, 03:49:58 PM

All those flashbacks happened within the first 28 minutes?!

Or you ended up scrubbing through the rest of it after you got bored?

Yeah, literally within the first 28 minutes. I never jumped forward. It was...

Elephants.
Then flashback to the people rallying to fight back.
Then flashback within that flashback to how the mc met this one goofy guy.
Flashback to him telling his adoptive family he needs to fight.
Flashback to his childhood.

When it then cut to tell a story, I stopped the movie. It was too much. This movie needed to tell the events in order. This isn't a Spike Chunsoft game. There's nothing lost telling us what happened chronologically for this type of story. Whoever's bright idea it was to tell everything out of order needed to be punched.

Quote from: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jul 16, 2022, 05:28:27 PM

I'm glad to see that Devil Is A Part-Timer is getting a second season, even if it is, like, a decade after the first. A fan must have wound up in charge of that company or something, damn.

I never saw this show but I think it's cool when stuff like that happens.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2952 on:** Jul 17, 2022, 01:06:58 AM »

Quote from: B E C K on Jul 16, 2022, 08:28:37 PM

This isn't a Spike Chunsoft game.

Oh, fuck. I laughed too hard at this.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2953 on:** Jul 21, 2022, 12:54:01 AM »

The first episode of Uncle from Another World was pretty good. Anything that takes the piss out of isekai is fine by me.

Rodent of Unusual Size · « **Reply #2954 on:** Jul 21, 2022, 05:27:01 PM »

DanMachi is back, but this was not one of my favorite arcs from the LN. I'll watch it, but....

B E C K · « **Reply #2955 on:** Jul 21, 2022, 08:18:25 PM »

Quote from: joerammstein on Jul 21, 2022, 12:54:01 AM

The first episode of Uncle from Another World was pretty good. Anything that takes the piss out of isekai is fine by me.

I looked this up and the Uncle is played by Takehito Koyasu! I don't really have time to watch it right now but I'll put it on my list.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2956 on:** Jul 21, 2022, 11:56:17 PM »

Oh yeah, the uncle character is minty fresh.

Unfortunately they're releasing it weekly, so binging won't even be an option for some time.

Faye Valentine · « **Reply #2957 on:** Aug 12, 2022, 11:37:51 AM »

I don't understand why there's another Junji Ito anime coming out. My man, the first one sucked ass so why sell your soul to yet another one? You have a lot of money as it is, you don't need to do this (looking at you too, Rumiko - i shit on my masterpieces- Takahashi)

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2958 on:** Aug 12, 2022, 04:14:57 PM »

My understanding is that Netflix's Junji Ito thing is going to be "done the right way"...

But then it's been delayed like three times already, so clearly things are not going smoothly.

Faye Valentine · « **Reply #2959 on:** Aug 13, 2022, 11:43:43 AM »

So what is the right way tho? What does it mean?

New from the press: Haikyuu will end after the next 2 movies.
( side note: Literally 90% of the kids that are in volleyball clubs all over Japan started because of Haikyuu )

B E C K · « **Reply #2960 on:** Aug 13, 2022, 10:20:14 PM »

Netflix? I had only heard of the Cartoon Network Uzumaki adaptation that keeps getting postponed. Jeez, like anyone's supposed to trust Netflix with a "faithful" adaptation of anything.

Quote from: Faye Valentine on Aug 13, 2022, 11:43:43 AM

New from the press: Haikyuu will end after the next 2 movies.
( side note: Literally 90% of the kids that are in volleyball clubs all over Japan started because of Haikyuu )

Wow, I didn't know it was that popular. I didn't dislike it or anything but the matches were so drawn out I couldn't stick with that series.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2961 on:** Aug 14, 2022, 01:34:40 PM »

Oh shit! Uzumaki is the one CN is doing, the Netflix thing is called Maniac and is something completely different. I didn't even realize there was more than one Junji Ito anime currently in development.

Apparently both have been delayed several times.

I guess quality is a major concern after the reception of "Collection".

B E C K · « **Reply #2962 on:** Aug 15, 2022, 10:46:18 AM »

I think a Junji Ito game would work better than an animated adaptation. And if it were animated, better to go down the path with a single tale (like the Uzumaki adaptation) than half-ass a bunch of his stories together.

I watched a bit more of Uncle from Another World and as much as I adore Takehito Koyasu, I don't think this one will stick for me. A couple of times, it pauses after a joke as if the audience laugh track is missing or something. This show isn't pulling me in like it needs to.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2963 on:** Aug 15, 2022, 04:28:23 PM »

I'm still watching it, but you're right, it's not delivering on its premise as much as I'd hoped.

B E C K · « **Reply #2964 on:** Aug 15, 2022, 05:39:29 PM »

The nephew or whoever is kind of a weak character from the bits I saw. He doesn't offer anything. He tries to be a bit wacky himself but the uncle has all of the wackiness covered. I don't know if I'd still be sticking with it or not, but the story might've been better served playing the nephew 100% straight.

Rodent of Unusual Size · « **Reply #2965 on:** Aug 18, 2022, 08:56:03 AM »

I've read a good chunk of the manga, and while it was a fun concept it doesn't look like they plan to move past that anyone soon. One-truck ponies just don't cut it with me and my limited available viewing time.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2966 on:** Aug 18, 2022, 10:05:55 PM »

First episode of Tekken: Bloodline was okay. Animation style is that 2D/3D hybrid you're seeing more of all the time. The 3D isn't too heinous, though.

Subtitle situation is trash. Closed captions for the English dub only, super lame.

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2967 on:** Sep 04, 2022, 12:25:12 AM »

Finished the second batch of Stone Ocean. Great, great, great. Hopefully it won't be another eight months before the next bunch comes around, but I ain't holding my breath!

Not that there isn't other anime to watch. Way too much, really.

B E C K · « **Reply #2968 on:** Sep 28, 2022, 12:58:20 PM »

Watched some Overlord season four. Nothing will ever top the first season for me but there's still a few tidbits of interest.

Honestly, the monster stuff--which is, like, the huge appeal of this--is getting really dull for me. In the episodes I watch I've found the turmoil of the human characters way more interesting. But it's not about them so, um, let's see a skeleton monologue to his minions, I guess. Bleh

jonhammstein · « **Reply #2969 on:** Oct 12, 2022, 01:16:19 AM »

Chainsaw Man. I'm not even sure how to talk about this anime, because I'm biased as all hell. I love the manga. Love it. Was the first episode actually good? My eyes started to tear up at one point, but is that because of what was happening on screen, or because I already know what will eventually happen with these characters?

If I have a single gripe, it's that the CG can be a little stiff at times. Hopefully there won't be an over-reliance on CG?

The intro surprised me, but not in a good way. When it started I felt immediately deflated. I guess I was expecting death metal, and it's more pop-rock. But then I watched it again, this time focusing on the visuals and noted some of the allusions to future characters/events, so that was cool. And then I watched it again, and you know what that bass line is actually pretty sick.

I've watched it way too many times already. I really like it now.