General Anime Thread

DeathCloud

Agent of Shadows
Spider new episode start - she got Immortality  
Episode end - she is attacked by enemy who can just kill her with one gesture
Holofan4life
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I II II L
Now that I’ve had about a week to reflect on Darling In the FranXX, I thought I’d give my thoughts.
 
Overall, the first 19 episodes are amazing. Then you get episodes 20 through 22, which are weaker but still enjoyable. Then we get the last two episodes, which I feel are rushed and a bit pointless. The show really jumps the shark in episode 20 with a plot twist that felt needlessly outerworldly, but I would be more forgiving of it if the remaining 5 episodes were this big, long, epic battle. But no. They resolve the conflict in episode 21 and then another conflict emerges.
 
I mentioned how the first 19 episodes are really, really good, but there’s also like 3 episodes in a row that feel like complete filler. Nothing much of note happens in these episodes other than showing how the teammates play off each other, which is fine but I feel this could’ve been done less inconsequentially. It’s especially weird because the series also features numerous episodes that focuses on one specific member of the cast, which I feel is done much more effectively. I think they could’ve done the character based episodes and use it to explore their relationships with the rest of their teammates instead of just having a series of filler episodes.
 
I was surprised by how much I cared about Zero Two. In the beginning, I thought she was unlikable and inconsiderate. But by episode 10 or 11 you really start to root for her. It just goes to show how great writing can turn seemingly off-putish characters into characters you like.
 
Ichigo is probably the best written character in the whole series. There are times where she comes off both likable and hateable, and she’s able to do this without a change in character motivation. She cares about the well-being of her teammates, and wants to do whatever she can to ensure their safety. Yet at the same time, she sometimes haphazardly puts her own needs about other people’s, which really is at the center of her moral conflict.
 
I think my favorite character in the whole show is Zorome. He has tsundere tendencies and can be a bit of a jerk, but he also cares about his teammates. Plus, he’s very important in the plot point of growing old, which the series spends a great deal of time exploring.
 
Overall, I’d rate the series a 7.5 out of 10. There are some slow points, and the last 5 episodes go off a cliff, but when the series is good, it’s outstanding. Episode 15 is legitimately one of the most beautiful episodes I’ve ever seen. It is easily the highpoint of the series, and might be one of the 10 best episodes of anime ever produced.
tehwatever
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@DeathCloud  
Kumoko OP 2: Exciting anime battle between Ariel vs Kumoko
 
What actually happened: Kumoko getting one shotted with a hand wave.
 
I’m guessing Kumoko vs Ariel is gonna be a regular occurrence, considering one practically will keep coming back and the other is overpowered. I wonder if this is gonna be a running gag. I want a montage of Kumoko getting hilariously blown up everytime she tries to challenge Ariel for the title.
 
Also shout out for that not-so-subtle Prince reference by the sub.  
“Hey, it’s the artist formerly known as Magic Brain 1! Good to see you!’
tehwatever
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
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Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
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Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
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Friendship, Art, and Magic (2019) - Celebrated Derpibooru's seventh year anniversary with friends.

As per usual, the Kumoko part is 70x better than Shun part.
 
Is Shun et al ever gonna get exciting? Come on, animator! Do something fun with the Shun group PLEASE, I’M BEGGING YOU! Come to think of it, I didnt even see one gag, not a single visual gag from the Shun part. Why not??! Why everything om Shun’s part has to be sooo serious?
Random-Rambling
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@Random-Rambling
Have you read Tomo-chan Is a Girl? If you want a series with a highly well-executed tsundere, I really recommend it.
 
“Tomo Aizawa was able to successfully confess to her crush Junichirou Kubota. There is only one problem: he just sees her as his buddy. He thought that she was a boy until they went to middle school together because her grade school was in a different school district.”
 
I might just read this because a) tomboys are hot and b) the interesting inversion of “girl friend-zones guy”.
Dustcan
Magnificent Metadata Maniac - #1 Assistant
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Dogs
Latest episode of Spider confirms the time skips between the A plot and B plot. Neat.
 
Fei continues to be the best part of the human/future segments. And those same segments continue to be where the budget is diverted away from.
 
Oh, so Kumo wasn’t the demon lord? She’s not the top dog in the future? Are you allowed to do that in an isekai?
ghostfacekiller39
Duck - Bona fide shitposter - ignore or report

Sunny Day Realtor
Makes me think of Louis from Familiar of Zero.
Basically the most exaggerated example of an abusive tsundere you can think of. But at the same time one of the best explained ones, making a character that simultaneously gets too bad yet also an deserved rap.
 
I don’t think it’s deserved at all, considering the broader theme/take on ZnT’s use of the tsundere. She’s not even really that much of a tsundere at first, she goes from tsun (in that she legitimately just doesn’t like him) -> tsundere in the middle parts of the series -> dere by the end of it. But none of that is really relevant unless you have a hard-on for database-like categorization.
 
What makes the rep feel so undeserved - assuming we’re talking about the idea she’s one of the worst examples of what a tsundere is - is that the main narrative of Zero no Tsukaima, the romance that develops between her and Saito, is premised on the idea that they’re both kind of assholes. Louise is snotty and views Saito with the type of contempt that a nasty example of nobility would look at a peasant with. Saito is a lecherous asswipe that’s barely ever considerate to her or most people around him, for that matter. And during the development of their romance they…learn to tolerate these elements about each other, Louise’s anger and snottiness and Saito’s poor sense of empathy and general thirst for everything with a pair of tits.
 
In a genre that’s traditionally rooted in idealization to an extreme with concepts like soulmates and perfect compatibility and love at first sight and yadda yadda, ZnT is super refreshing about it. They don’t like everything about each other. They learn to tolerate these elements that the other possesses because the stuff they do like about each other outweighs as much. And god fucking damn, it actually takes its time exploring and developing that dynamic instead of dropping a complete 180 turn after one or two climactic scenes.
 
I don’t have any issue with idealized romances and I’m not saying that this is the way to do a romantic development, but it’s definitely something totally different and pretty touching if you stick around for it.
 
And, let’s be real, Louise smacking Saito around when she annoys him was never that distinct by tsundere standards in the first place, and certainly not as condemnable as, iunno, a womanchild like Haruhi trying to coerce other characters into making an actual exploitative rape scene for a fucking high school film project if we’re taking the scope beyond tsundere and into obnoxious, contempt-worthy lead females. Unless your moral compass is just beyond fucked. But yeah, I’d contest the idea that she’s extreme by tsundere standards. People built it up like I was going to be watching a Malty-like character in terms of the abusive to the MC, whenever I just saw a girl acting like a lady on her period with some BDSM-themed slapstick bullshit used to accentuate and exaggerate as much. Where that notion came from is beyond me, especially given the broader thematic context it exists in.
 
None of this matters because harem with a tsundere, though, so let’s just disregard the whole point. People just seem to enjoy ripping everything to the most unnuanced, surface-level categorizations possible and then deriding them for being able to be categorized as such, even if you have to get to a point where all of the meaning in what accusation is being levied at it is lost in being so fucking reductive about it. We’re sitting here discussing fucking -dere archetypes along this line, like those say anything at all other than casting a really fucking large umbrella. “She likes the MC but she’s mean about it, tee-hee!” “She likes the MC and she’s really clingy and assertive about it, so she’s a deredere!” “She’s emotionless and distant, kuudere~!” I’m not even sure it’s possible to talk about -dere archetypes in a generalized sense without saying a whole lot of fucking nothing. Especially with the sheer amount of interpretations and representations any one of the mainline -dere archetypes is bound to have when you mix that very large umbrella together with their prominence in anime/manga.
 
Watching discussion about shit like this play out always reminds me of how much people suck when it comes to talking about this shit, honestly. Nuance is dead, we need to take everything and break them down into disgusting oversimplifications, while somehow convincing ourselves that we’re having a remotely substantial conversation. Boo.
DeathCloud

Agent of Shadows
@Dustcan  
But this should be clear for few episodes already. Also her human form was seen too but its easier to miss
 
Also I checked spoiler about her power level at time of flashforward scenes way above demon lord and actual god, actually more what you could expect from isekai
tehwatever
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
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Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
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Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
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Friendship, Art, and Magic (2019) - Celebrated Derpibooru's seventh year anniversary with friends.

Coulda done some fun stuff with Fei going out shopping for clothes but we dont got nothing.
 
If you dont have budget for the animation then go for gags, damnit! Even the standard spit-takes or a dope-slap will do. ANYTHING, PLEASE! So much potential, practically unused.
 
Fei’s just barely carrying the Shun part solely due to her being sassy. Without her, Shun plot is boring AF.
tehwatever
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Artist -
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2019) - Celebrated Derpibooru's seventh year anniversary with friends.

@Dustcan  
Montage of Kumoko gunning for the title and failing please. Kumoko wants to be the MaOu doesn’t she?
 
I want like a number on screen that goes up everytime she gets owned, to add to that hilarity.
 
Imagine Kumoko being like “okay Demon Lord today is the day I take your title” and you see she’s been trying for at least 50 times or something.
Dustcan
Magnificent Metadata Maniac - #1 Assistant
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Preenhub - We all know what you were up to this evening~
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Condensed Milk - State-Approved Compensation

Dogs
@NitroFury
 
Mecha anime at least has the excuse that it’s a classic and longrunning genre.
 
Isekai has been around for a while but has really exploded in the last few years.
tehwatever
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Artist -
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2019) - Celebrated Derpibooru's seventh year anniversary with friends.

Isekai and its massive sudden explosion is to me, an indication that many of its audience are still uncomfortable with the notion of nonexistence after death.
 
Sure, with death, pain and everything else is gone, but considering existence and awareness is all that we know, the thought of an abrupt halt to all of it feels frightening.
 
However, religion succ ballz, so the solution? ISEKAI. Not only does that aleviate that what-comes-after-death anxiety, it also appeals to escapism, away from this shitty world that the millennials have inherited and into a different world. May be better, may be worse, but at the very least it may just be more exciting.
 
Imo isekai is kinda postmodern.
Random-Rambling
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).
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@tehwatever
 
It’s not that we’re uncomfortable with the nothing after death (okay, we are a little), but it’s mostly because it doesn’t make a very good story. If the main character dies, and he is sent off into oblivion, that’s it. That’s the end of the story.
tehwatever
Shimmering Smile - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of Equestria Girls!
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Non-Fungible Trixie -
Twinkling Balloon - Took part in the 2021 community collab.
Artist -
Ten years of changes - Celebrated the 10th anniversary of MLP:FiM!
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2020) - Took part in the 2020 Community Collab
Wallet After Summer Sale -
Friendship, Art, and Magic (2019) - Celebrated Derpibooru's seventh year anniversary with friends.

@Random-Rambling  
You realize that many isekai begins when the Main Character DIES and gets reincarnated, right? We know nothing of the MC except that they died and is brought back. We only know of the MC post death. That is practically the first thing we know of them: They DIED.
 
Secondly. why is a story a good story? what does a good story do to you? does it answer your anxieties, is it cathartic, does it validate your opinion, etc. A story is a story. Good or not depends on the audience. So AGAIN, my argument is thus:
 
Isekai makes for a good story because it speaks to the audience’s sensibilities, the premise addresses many of their anxieties. Evidence to my argument is thus: Why does many isekai seem like second chances? where’s that coming from?
 
Why does many isekai sound like this: I was a bum, nerd, loser, human garbage, overworked employee, unlucky in life, ugly, etc. Then I’m transported / reborn into this world and now I’m relatively happier and or successful.
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