What Anime are you watching?

[B E C K]

That's kinda what I mean. Like, the artwork is part of the horror. The way the images are rendered and the line work and detail he's put into them is part of the presentation. It doesn't work with a normal cheapo anime budget.

I finally saw some of that new Gundam show. It's good, don't get me wrong. I just feel like I'm not quite smart enough for Gundam. I have no idea what was going on in the prologue. At all. Like, the kid synced with the Gundam or something and just murders stuff and is all weeee, shit's dead?  HUH. And what was Villain Guy getting out of having everyone shot? Gundams hurt the pilot so lets kill a shitload of people?  Double HUH? I also completely DO NOT get the point of the student duels. How are they able to fix their mechs (time-wise, resource-wise, AND money-wise) and how aren't students frequently dying? The duels seem stupid and utterly pointless. Along with the whole "win the duel and marry the villain's daughter" thing. Shouldn't there be a higher barrier to entry for these duels if being the Holder means you get the guy's daughter? Surely, they don't want any rube taking part in these sorts of things for this very reason, right? And nobody vets the huge fuckin' illegal mech she brings to school? As if she shoved a turtle in her backpack for Show 'n Tell? Again, I actually like this show but a lot of shit don't make sense.

[jonhammstein]

Yeah, I feel like more than a few Gundam shows have been like that over the years. Zero explanation for the status quo, you're just meant to accept that that's the way things are and go with it.

[B E C K]

I was bored and tried Koikimo because it was recommended to me. From somewhere. I don't remember where. And I don't know why because this show's so fucking weird. It's not bad but it's closer to bad than it ever will be to being good. Random points below.

Age gap relationship: I could've overlooked this with a better story. It's always better to go with adult age-gaps imo. She's 17, I'm not gonna nitpick it that much. He's 27 though. The show plays it off as "how cool that older, hot guy is interested in her" but he actually comes off as a bit of a stunted loser who can only relate to a child.

Womanizer Character: He's a womanizer. Fine. I think this character type can be conveyed without being disgusting. The whole "what's her name" can be funny once or with a bit of spin on the joke, although it's otherwise trite and cliche. This show has no such spins to offer. "He such a maaaaan he dun know wamen's names because he's been with soooo many wamens." Give me a break. FFS, just look at your damn phone and read the name that last asked for a hookup.

Secret Masochist: The guy likes verbal abuse and the chick being disgusted with him. It'd be funny if it wasn't clearly a kink without the girl's consent. I also find it hard to believe this guy's kink has never been triggered before. The implication from this show is that he's soooo hot or whatever that no woman's ever called him a jerk or a creep before and gotten him hard from it. I refuse to believe this.

Cool Sister: I like the dude's little sister. Seems like a nice character.

Female Love Interest: She's actually okay. I don't find her obnoxious or anything. But homegirl needs to cover her mouth when she coughs.

Boundaries: He doesn't really respect her's and she puts up with it. Irl, you wouldn't blame the victim especially when she's a child. But it's okay. This is a cartoon. It's le funny ho ho. Crossing boundaries this egregiously just means it's TRUE love, y'all. At least according to fanfics I read in 1999.

CREEPER: Male Love Interest intimidates others who don't step into line with his wants. He looms over highschool boys that don't behave the way he wants. In the first episode, he assaults a woman by grinding a napkin into her face to violently wipe off her make-up and then threatens to pull out her real eyelashes when she bemoans he pulled off her fake ones. It's supposed to be funny, guise. Because women who wear makeup are, like, vapid hos and this woman was being bitch by telling a *checks notes* highschool girl that the older man grooming her is a womanizer.

This was the most disgusting scene I have ever seen in an anime romcom and that includes any show where the female love interest was nearly r@ped. At least when the latter happens, it's done by a bad guy who is clearly wrong and gets some sort of comeuppance. But in Koikimo, the male love interest just gets to assault a woman. I get it was supposed to be played off as a gag but it wasn't actually executed as a gag. There were no zany sound effects or zingers to cap a joke. He just violently rubs off her makeup and threatens her.

I'd have more respect for this show if this behavior was called out or were indicators of a future turn into a darker show. Like he starts murderin' people and sticking them in his van. Then we'd have a dark comedy. But this is supposed to be a romcom. And in a setting of sparkling eyes full of admiration and gifting a flower a day to court his lady love, he randomly assaults a woman.

Please, just watch Love is Hard for an Otaku with adorable adult couples.

[B E C K]

I tried a bit of Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. The beginning with the mom was kinda cute but I'm not feeling this show. The lead being some frail little girl who insists that she can protect herself and then buys a fairy slave to protect herself is just... eh. I think I would've liked this show more if she truly had to find other ways to protect herself. But then, you know, we don't get the trope of master/servant love between her and the hot dude-fairy she buys. This combined with the prior scene where a big burly man beats a tiny fairy while he screams for his wing sends off mixed signals about the feel of this show. I mean, what kind of show do you want to be, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale? I'm kinda confused by it tbh.

I think this might've been a better show if her mom was still alive but sick and the Main Character needs the prize money from contest or whatever to buy medicine. And maybe she has a dad or aunt or someone else who buys her the fairy for her own safety and is keeping the wing hostage. This way, she's forced into her journey prematurely and she's forced to have a slave even though she thinks slavery is wrong. (In this show, the owners keep one of the fairy's wings hostage which forces them in slavery. So if someone else had the wing, she'd had no way to free the slave.)

But here, her mom's dead. And the Main Character just pops on over to the slave market to done buy her a slave. And that slave is sassy, so she's sassy back.  "How dare you call me names, slave." And I'm supposed to, uh, like this character? Just because she's a young girl and the English dub gives her a voice that sounds two degrees above ASMR whispering?

[B E C K]

I decided to try a bit of Lupin Zero and kid Jigen shooting at the bullies at his school was a bit too real for America. Doesn't look bad although I admittedly find Lupin very hit and miss for my tastes. I might come back to this later.

I also watched a bit of Aggretsuko Season 5. Way to turn this show into the Haida show. It's like the writers forgot who the main character was. They sidelined all of the more interesting characters for Main Character's homeless, jobless simp.