What are you watching today?

Japanese Watching
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So…a week ago or so I posted my seasonal wrap up, in the what are you reading thread :sweat_smile: I deleted that post and since then finished some of the series. So here goes, again (in the order I liked most to least)

とんがり帽子のアトリエ : watching this with a friend so in EN, also not done with it yet, but really loving it. It’s so pretty and I love the worldbuilding, and how magic ties back to art.

ガンバレ！中村くん!!: one of the most stylish shows I watched. Really fun. I think the additional material from the manga and reshuffling of the manga content works really well. I liked the manga but the 2nd half felt really aimless, the anime is a big improvement.

あかね噺: I kind of went back and forth on this one, I think it feels a bit overpolished (animation-wise) at times. Like there will be so many effects and lights it feels overdone to the point of being distracting. Sometimes I got bored with this show but when it was good it was really good. I did not however get attached to anything in particulr so I probably will skip the 2nd season.

Liar Game: was watching this with a friend but she wanted to drop it after the third arc. I am fond of the mangab ut I don’t think it’s a good adaptation (it just looks really boring visually), it also seems like it’d be hard to follow in jp so I felt no particular desire to continue it by myself for now, and part of me thinks I’d rather reread the manga if I am going to do it alone. I might pick it back up since I do still like the source but idk…

上伊那ぼたん、酔へる姿は百合の花: Prettiest add for alcohol you will ever see! I really love this visually but I didn’t connect with it much. I felt like the pivot to alcohol often undercut the character and relationships. But great vibes

黄泉のツガイ: Going back and forth on this, it is good but not exceptional in any way. I feel like I keep waiting for it to get to the point. So far it felt like 12 eps of build up. Depending on how much I decide to watch the summer season, I might drop it.

basically exact same opinion

Dropped shows: Hidarikiki no eren (focused too much on the other lead for my liking), marriagetoxin (i like the leads but everything else felt super generic)

As for the summer season, so far I checked out yani neko. It’s very gross out humor which is fiiine but what I didn’t vibe with was that i is just skits that don’t really connect fully. I feel like this show will be really popular and I do think the characters look really cute. Feels like the type of show that will be easily meme/Shareable.

looking forward to and will definitely watch: 天幕のジャードゥーガル → it looks absolutely amazing
きみが死ぬまで恋をしたい → i don’t know much about it but I love dramatic yuri
the new gits → i only like the first loose movie adaptation and really love it. I am also a huge fan of the neo retro look. The trailers aren’t my favorite instance of this look but I’ll take it.

gonna watch with friends probably, might not be as it airs: 対ありでした。 ～お嬢さまは格闘ゲームなんてしない～, the new nanoha

will check out: これ描いて死ね → i like the title, and I enjoy stories about art
令和のダラさん → i think this is a sex comedy which isn’t really my thing but i heard some good things about the manga
さよならララ → looks really pretty and thats enough for me to give it a try
いびってこない義母と義姉 → not sure if the humor will work for me but worth trying out
メビウス・ダスト → anime original, but looks like it might be interesting?

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I started 氷の城壁 with JP subs for chill evening viewing. I can imagine this show being very meaningful to middle/high school students–seeing themselves in the characters as they try to figure out their core self-image and beliefs about others and how people should interact in the world. It makes me remember being a teenager, when every little interaction could feel extremely dramatic/worth overanalyzing.

Speaking of high school, I also started watching this Youtube series on basic biology in order to pick up some new vocabulary and refamiliarize myself with material I’ve forgotten from high school. Very easy to follow, but it’s funny and a little sad to see how some of the information is presented. For instance, the third video is about 細胞の大きさ, and the teacher basically just gives a list of things+their sizes to memorize. Knowing that red blood cells are a lot bigger than viruses? That’s useful information. Knowing the exact sizes of red blood cells and viruses? That’s miserable fact-cramming for no purpose other than answering a question on a test. smh

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Summer looking forward to:

Yet again way too many anime… So I’ll probably drop things midway or catch up in spurts. I have the advantage of my life not being overly busy rn. So maybe I can keep up this season

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I dropped it in the name of catching up, but having fomo

I haven’t read the manga, but I thought they did well with what’s next to what. I dropped it to catch up on other stuff, cuz it’s too same-y and I wanted to challenge myself with harder shows. Still, it’s cute

I had ups and downs as well, and would like to see Akane encounter something meaningfully challenging. So far she’s just good at everything she does (with some work and guidance of course)

I dropped after 3 eps, though have heard the relationship stuff got more interesting later on. Still though, a bit dull for me.

Also dropped. I watched the first 2 eps with a friend, who then binged the rest and it sounded kinda depressing

This (and being so far behind) convinced me to drop

The premise sounded boring to me, but a little curiousis if it turns out well

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One of my favorite illustrators did the character designs for this one, I’m excited to get to it

I went back and forth on this one. It is geographically set near me and how often does that happen in manga, but the trailer looked generic and not very well drawn. I also am a bit put off by the cast being largely blondes considering the time and place these characters are from it just feels like not a lot of thought went into those designs beyond making them exotic in some way.

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Only show I want to watch summer season is the new Nanoha series, but I don’t think it’ll be on Netflix, so I’ll probably wait until it’s done airing and hope I can find subs elsewhere.

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I’ll probably just watch Youjo Senki II and Mushoku Tensei III. Continue with Slime Tensei IV. And that’s a lot of tensei-genre.

I wish there was a Yurucamp/Nonbiri nouka style chill anime this season that appealed to me.

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I hadn’t actually watched the trailers till just now. Maybe a bit generic, tho I didn’t notice any drawing issues.

Historical accuracy isn’t really something I expect from anime (and I didn’t realize it was set in the Hitite Empire till I saw the trailer), but now that you mention it that makes me a bit less enthusiastic as well.

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Loved これ描いて死ね! → The title made me expect a more cynical show but it felt very heartfelt.
令和のダラさん → dropped midway through the episode. I just didn’t like the look of the show, literally. The manga is gorgeous so if I do want to engage with this I’d rather do the manga.
天幕のジャードゥーガル → loved this one as well, gorgeous. Currently my favorite of the season
The new gits → this one…was way too hard for me to follow. I thought maybe it could be a good challenge but I kept having to listen to every line 5-6 times :melting_face: It’s possible the beginning section is an outlier on the content, but it was pretty discouraging. Something to return to eventually. I could also try to read the manga and then return to the anime, since it is apparently a faithful adaptation.

Really looking forward to trying out goodbye lara but can’t find subs for it…

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Alright, all the week 1 stuff is out besides ワールド イズ ダンシング S1 | L30?? , which won’t be on streaming for a few weeks

This was excellent and I’m sure will be my favorite of the season! I’ve seen a lot of praise for it’s cultural authenticity. I think the MC is pretty interesting. Really looking forward to following it. I had to grab subs for it, b/c some of the vocab was hard to make out - yet when I added the subs, it didn’t feel like I needed them so much :woman_shrugging:

This hooked me fast! No idea where it’s gonna go, but it was captivating. The villainess(?) is rather chaotic and interesting. The setting is cool too. That said the pivot at the end of ep 1 caught me by surprise, so we’ll have to see where it goes.

They did a great job with the first ep. I kinda wish I hadn’t already read the manga tbh. I think I’d be more captivated.

The second season of ロックは淑女の嗜みでして S1 | L27 came out so soon!! They dropped the band though. Jokes aside, it was a good first ep. I think they’re bringing the manga’s style to life really well, and they’ve managed to keep the fighting game scenes interesting. The beginning really does mirror ロックレディ a lot (対あり manga was first), but I found the style of ロックレディ a lot more enjoyable so far. There’s much more subtlety there. Personally I could do with less blood. Anyway I’m looking forward to it.

Ep 1 was fine. I’m not super into this arc, and the fact that I just read the manga volume this weekend made it a bit less exciting. Still enjoying tho.

I wasn’t planning on watching this, but I want to engage with more higher level JP content (which means around ~L33+ for me). I’m not crazy about the animation style, and I can’t tell wth is actually going on - and not b/c of the language. The language has definitely got some super hard words (the older series is L35 here), and goes by fast. I’m watching w/ subs on Amazon JP.

That probably explains the animation style. It’s good and distinct, but I’m not so into it. The colors stand out so much, and a lot of the shots feel a bit too zoomed in. So that got me curious to try:

I dropped 5 min into ep 1 back in Oct 2024 - both due to interest and difficulty. As first eps go, I think this one was harder than the new show, but I assume the two will be more or less the same difficulty overall. Idk if there’s an episode of the older anime that matches the new one, but I definitely prefer the aesthetics of the old one - visual and audio. Not sure I’ll stick with either tbh.

Watching with subs, and it’s still challenging enough. The arc seems like it’s going to be pretty fun and interesting, given the university setting.

Rewatching this b/c there’s an event on Reddit. This is my 4th time watching, and some of the lines are still hard for to make out :sob:. No JP subs exist for it afaict, so I have to check the EN subs. Anyway, it’s still a favorite :smiley:

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Watched 1st ep and really liked this. I wonder if it’s wishful thinking to think it was implying it was gonna go a yuri route?

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I’m so confused. I keep seeing people say this… I saw the episode - what did I miss?

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episode 1 ending

Lara is rejected and attacked by the prince, and is told she has to re-do her story. The implied prince-replacement (the first person she meets on the land, also the narration notes “this is how I met her”) is a girl

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Ohhh ok. I’m not gonna get my hopes up tbh

If anything - I felt like there were vibes between MC and Grace especially in the prison scene- but obviously that wasn’t going anywhere (tho I’m sure there will be some fans writing/drawing it)

Me: discounts the possible obvious setup line.
Also me: subtext in that one scene! subtext I tell you! :face_exhaling: :sweat_smile:

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glad I wasn’t the only one getting sapphic vibes out of Goodbye Laura :joy:

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Episode 1 was pretty damn interesting, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops. So far the language is much less hard than 薬屋のひとりごと, but I did pause to look a few things up

天幕のジャードゥーガル | L30 continues to be excellent and interesting. The MC is very 賢い, but in a totally different way than say Mao-Mao. Idk about historical accuracy, but I’ve seen the cultural depiction praised so far

さよならララ S1 | L30?? ep 2 was excellent. They did such an excellent job portraying her disorientation to modern-day Shiga. Also yayyy kansai-ben all around

Ok now that ep 2 is out… I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but if they’re not going a yuri route, they’ve really got me fooled. Like the “vibes” are pretty minimal so far, but there’s been quite a few “this juxtaposition seems like intentional foreshadowing” moments

まんぷく S1 | L30?? - I Picked up cuz I heard there’s kansai-ben, but after 2 eps I’m not hooked, and some of the kansai-ben (writing and acting) is pretty bad… in other spots it’s very good though - depends on the actor. Kinda making me just wanna continue w/ カーネーション S1 | L29 rewatch. I’m surprised they didn’t have someone look over the scripts more carefully.

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I finished メダリスト S2 | L24 today. Not as good as season one, but still good overall. It was only 9 episodes and was frontloaded with the most exciting parts, so I think they were in a bit of an awkward position based on where they were in the manga… or else they’re being greedy. It’ll become clear once we know how long the sequel movie is. If it’s on the shorter end, like 80-90 minutes, then it’ll be clear that they opted for a movie for the revenue potential instead of just extending the short season to a normal 13 episodes. If it’s more like 110-120 minutes or longer then it’ll make sense for pacing reasons as well since they couldn’t have fit that into a normal season.

Sadly the movie isn’t scheduled to come out until 2027, with no month specified at all. So it’ll be a while.

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So far this season I only started watching

Was very disturbed by the opening scene of the old man licking a photo of Tanya, if he only knew :rofl:.

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Wow, the EN and JP titles are so different :sweat_smile:

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I accidentally stumbled upon ばけばけ S1 | L32 by a misclick but I got immediately hooked by the dialect. It is 125 episodes of Izumo-ben goodness in pretty kimono. How beautiful. I didn’t know that Izumo-ben had so much in common with Kyūshū dialects （e.g., 「だけん、なしてここに居(お) らんかった？」 for 「「だから、なんでここにいなかったの？」）.

I had a small fright when the MC went to Tōkyō but she stayed in a bubble of other fellow 松江人 and quickly came back home :relieved_face: .

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