Board 8 > Anime & Manga Discussion Topic 173: Someone had to

(+) Yeah! (+)

SUMMER 2017 RANKING TIME:

*THESE WRITE-UPS WILL SPOIL SHIT*

tl;dr Everything I watched was terrible and made me want to die.

6. Kakegurui
Huh, from first to worst. When Kakegurui started, I thought it had loads of potential. Sure, it didn't set itself up like a traditional gambling anime would, as it showed the main character is clearly batshit insane and better at gambling than all these phonies who need to cheat to win. But it holds onto that style for the entire show. Every episode seems to have a different gamble, barring maybe 2 cases that went for two? I don't quite remember. Either way, the formula gets tedious by the halfway mark. It's reliant on tactless eroticism and over-the-top vocal delivery, which can't carry a show (This is the part where I say hi Monogatari and everyone gets sad). And honestly, the worst part is just how damn pointless everything feels. Yumeko loses one gamble in the entire show. One. And you know what happens? She gets put into the slave social status like everyone else who goes into debt. But whereas this always creates issues for other, Yumeko just embraces that shit and uses it to her advantage. She is unphased by any of the things she puts on the line, so her long-winded rant about what gambling truly means are directly countered by her inability to show any form of despair. When Yumeko is winning, she's happy. When Yumeko is losing, she's happy. It's so bad, that at one moment, a girl is literally betting her life on Yumeko winning a gamble, and yet I never feel tension. The show does it's absolute best to pretend tension is there, but it's so forced that the end result is predictable, and Yumeko obviously wins. The final episode is anticlimactic garbage in a gamble that felt like it would have no actual stakes, and then proceeded to have no actual stakes because it was a draw. I actually had this ranked as a 6 before writing out my thoughts, but I don't know why I did that shit. This is a bad show. Do not watch it unless you like fapping to non-hentai and bad writing.

5. Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
Before starting this season, I was somewhat hyped for this, since I remembered enjoying the original, despite not remembering much about it. So when I looked at the first season's page and saw I scored it a 6, I was a bit confused. I remember it starting off strong with it's character interactions and worldbuilding, but every part of the climax is a blank. And through watching Virgin Soul, I remembered why I forgot everything actually important to the plot. MAPPA was good at introducing stories, but bad at finishing them, at least in the instance of RoB. I really liked multiple characters, and the little bit of romance that acted as a driving force of development in the main character was top notch. But the story just fails to grip me. It's a pretty generic fight against ancient evil thing, and by the end I couldn't tell you much about what actually happened. The cast became so bloated with different factions and armies that try to have presence, but vie for attention because it's only 24 episodes. Really, this is just an animation spectacle by the final third. It always looks pretty fucking cool, so that's neat. It also gave us two BANGIN' EDs so I can't say I hate it too much.
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4. Made in Abyss
This is basically all spoilers, so skip to the bottom past the spoiler bars if you just want to see my final word.

I'll admit, I overplayed my disdain for the show in this topic series. Overall I like Made in Abyss. It's an enjoyable show! What I don't understand is why this is becoming the next fucking Steins;Gate to the community on what was ultimately a gigantic prologue. I'm gonna give the one issue that bugged me throughout the entire show and then go on a pointless tangent about it ,that will probably put me over the text limit, that nobody will read: Consequence.

This is almost certainly to do with the fact that there are only two main characters for most of the show, and all the supporters function as obstacles to overcome. The hometown raiders? The fat dude?
An obstacle. Ozen? An obstacle. The point of all of these is to show just how hopeless the journey is for a weak girl with limited experience. The world is dangerous, and just being able to keep a bright outlook and a sense of curiosity to move forward isn't going to work. So why do they keep succeeding? Simple, really. The plot demands it, and because of this, the story feels poorly constructed. Don't get me wrong, Riko and Reg fail a lot. Basically in every episode! But after they fail, there's always some silver lining in the way that forces any consequence of them being unprepared and in over their heads into a minor trip-up in the grand scheme of things. So their almost immediately caught by a dude who wasn't able to brave the abyss? It's all cool, he just wanted to see what Reg looked like and then helps them descend. Oh, they meet Ozen and she's actually an evil woman who effortlessly obliterates them like they're fucking ants? Nah, she's just joshing and wants to see what they're made of. Turns out they suck but she doesn't care and let's them descend. And the biggest ballbreaker here is Riko having a near-death experience from the poisonous spine beast. She gets stabbed, leading to this long sequence where Reg has to try and perform surgery, which is pretty damn effective. But hey, it's cool, she just needs a magic bunny that has knowledge of surgical procedures. What? Why in the fuck do they keep lucking out in these hopeless situations? The show does a fantastic job of making these situations feel threatening, but immediately dash those feelings because of various deus ex machinaes forcing themselves into the story.

I could forgive this if Riko had any sort of development at all. She's always getting the butt of the deals and causing issues for Reg, so you'd think she'd feel powerless and bothersome, right? Nope. She literally has not grown as a character since episode 1. Hell, she hasn't even shown any resolve to grow stronger after consistently being useless in every situation that doesn't involve making food or giving Reg some tits to blush at. Therefore, all of these scenes lack consequence and just serve as a way of telling the viewer, "Hey man, the abyss is a pretty dangerous place!", which it already told me in the first episode. But it's actually running counter to that by showing us that anytime the characters face trouble in the abyss, they are backed up by something to negate the danger. Every danger in here is effectively meant to serve as a way to extend the length of their journey (Like Wario Land 3, fuck that game), rather than to provide any interesting story or character development.
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This is precisely why episode 13's first part is fucking outstanding. We're shown the horrors of the abyss up front, and there is immediate and irreversible consequence that changes the way a character thinks and acts. When Nanachi sees her best friend reduced to this sludge-like amalgamation of flesh, she goes from being meek and cowardly to determined, hoping to find a way to end her suffering. In about 20 minutes, the show managed to convey more emotion than any other episode combined. When she finally finds a way to kill Mitty, you get this beautiful scene where she realizes she's accomplished her goal, and thus feels no true meaning in her life anymore. It's so well done that I wish I could proclaim the show an absolute mastahpiece, but all it did was reaffirm my annoyance with the rest.

So, in short, I like Made in Abyss. Most of my problems will probably be fixed if this gets a sequel, because it ultimately just felt like a big introductory arc to the true story. I'm actually pretty hopeful it will get a new season, because it's taken an interesting direction. But my opinion is clearly an outlier, and I like to be able to know why a show I think is simply decent is being hailed as a masterwork of fiction. It's pretty easy to see why people dislike shows I like (Like in Orange and Scum's Wish, where everyone failed to understand the entire point of both shows), but it becomes trickier to figure out here, because, as I think I said earlier in this topic series, it's way easier to put into words what I don't like about something than what I do like. I feel like most people have those same problems, and it really shows in instances like these where I search out the reasonings people give for their abundance of love. Is it really so simple that it's because it is much darker than it leads on, and that just shocked people? I feel like that's the only specific thing I see. Everything else is, "OMG this is so perfect no flaws". Hell, I tried to get LtM to tell me why the show is so good in this topic and his response was something like, "I think the opposite of everything you said but to each their own." I'm not trying to call you out, man, but I really want to know what it is I'm missing here. I always get the feeling that I've just looked over an important component of the show when it's so unanimously loved. I want to love this show like everyone else does, because it's great to watch something you think is a masterpiece. I'm just not seeing a damn thing from anyone to show why this show is any more meaningful than what I spilled out onto a video game message board.

In conclusion, fuck TexasZea.
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3. Re:Creators
I already talked about why I liked this show over multiple posts because Mac forced it out of me against my will, but the first half is cool for a little bit until it starts dumping plot on you. It gets stale to the point that I only kept watching it because of Megane growing to be a more focused character. She's the only one I can come out of this actually enjoying a ton. But then it sort of re-creates (LMFAO) itself. Suddenly, it's not this super serious show about fictional characters coming into the real world. It's this super serious, but self-aware show about fictional characters coming into the real world. The second half or so is a total blast, and I liked it a lot. Nothing particularly amazing, but a good way to bring everything together. Instead of going into detail, here's a bulleted list of the best cheese it threw in.

- Female Izaya Orihara there to just fuck shit up and not actually be relevant
- Introducing a porn game character for literally no reason and having her creator fall in love with her
- A character named Blitz Talker
- The anime industry saving the world (Like Argo except not up it's own ass)
- The way of saving the world is the government creating a massive anime expo thing where evryone watches the "fictional" characters battle in a massive crossover.
- The villain can only be defeated if fans learn to accept power levels (Realistically,
this would be the world's undoing)
- The main villain using a gun and sword as a violin and bow respectively
- Putting in a troll recap in the midst of the climax where Meteora makes fun of people who actually like this shit
- An author rewriting her story to make a villain good (I think this was meant to be a super serious moment without cheese, but I found it super cheesy regardless)
- And finally, the fact that all of these characters look like the most generic shitty anime protagonists,
yet are the most popular characters in the world. I also don't think this was intentional but lolol

2. Tsurezure Children
Wow, was not expecting this after episode one. Actually don't have much to say about it. It's a feel good romcom that was essentially six episodes long. It's great stuff, because most of it is well-written. Both funny and heartwarming, and I'm glad they didn't ever tackle any real drama. Here's my thoughts on the relationships. Can't be bothered to look evryone up because I'm trash, so I'm "borrowing" stealing Mac's format.

Akagi + Ryouko (class pres + delinquent): Worst couple by far and I wish Mac hadn't stuck them first because when I steal, I don't half-ass it and refuse to change order. Anyway, I found the president horribly unfunny, with every joke eventually going to how much he wants to grope her. The girl obviously gets pissed but eventually gives in. He says he's just kidding. There you have it. That's the schtick here. It gets old immediately and I hated every time they came up. Surprisingly enough though, the last part with Ryouko is nice, mainly because it doesn't involve middle school humor.

Furuya + Minagawa (class reps): Furuya is a bit forgettable, but this is mainly about Minagawa and his little sister. They create this hilarious rivalry that's always a blast to see unfold because Minagawa is an ace troll. Shame we didn't get much from them, because that texting segment between the two was top tier.
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Goda x Kamine (stoic guy x shy girl): This was one of the more focused pairings and also one of the weaker ones. They both constantly misread the others' emotions so it's kind of cute when you hear both of them constantly misunderstanding each other back-to-back. It may have been weaker, but I liked most of the pairings, so I like this one too.

Kana x Chiaki (childhood friend comedy duo): This one is the closest it gets to being a drama, and even then it's pretty light. Kana just wants Chiaki to not be lame, but Chiaki has difficulty with romantic stuff because they've been friends so long, and acting differently is strange for both. Feels like one of the more realistic ones imo.

Kazuko x Katori (kitten x dating master): Katori is the best character in the fucking show. Everytime he's on-screen it's a blast. Don't care about the girl, but at least we share the same feelings for Katori.

Astronomy Club: This might actually be my least favorite. The first segment is what made me think this show was trying to create meaningful romances in 3 minutes and failing hard at it. It's just not very good. I don't remember the other segments tbqh.

Sugawara x Takano (sporty guy x kuudere): My favorite. Fucking adorable.

Takase x Kanda (text couple): I only remember one segment where it ends on him accidentally calling her a bitch. That was pretty funny. Did they get more that I forgot?

Kurihara x Yamane (popular girl x nerd): Pretty damn funny stuff. Yamane's design and voice are just perfect, and the inclusion of his friend just made things better. Another underused one right here.

1. My Hero Academia 2nd Season
Fucking great stuff right here. I'm a little burnt out on write-ups after just doing a novel, so this one's gonna be pretty short. Also it's a sequel, so my opinion matters less. Anyway, it doesn't really solve the pacing issues of season one, as it still drags it's feet a lot. It does, however, make better use of the setting. Season 1 just felt like it was using the school as a means to introduce a teenage main character who has to fight crime, which was disappointing. The school as a setting has a lot more presence here, giving it a light SoL flavor to add on to the action. The set-up is weird, since they end on what is basically a training arc. But the final scene ends with a season 3 announcement, so the show is obviously doing well and I don't think we'll have to worry about material not being animated, at least for a while. But yeah, I'm certainly anticipating season 3, and if it ever fixes the pacing, we could be set for one of the better battle shounens to grace the medium.
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Dear god does Bakugo ever stop being constantly pissed off lmao. I have never seen anybody at like 100% shouting and anger levels for nearly all of their dialogue until now. He's constantly pissed off, looks irritated all the time and basically has the worst personality any Hero could ever have short of being like an actual terrible murderer or something >_>

XFD Jesus he even wakes up and brushes his teeth while incredibly pissed off

Almost done with S2, but I'll finish it tomorrow. Just beated an episode the preview said was an anime original episode. It was about Tsu's internship.

jsyk tazzy, the last episode of Kakegurui was a filler ending. Not that that really makes it better, but eh. Also, have you seen Akagi?
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Mac Arrowny posted...

jsyk tazzy, the last episode of Kakegurui was a filler ending. Not that that really makes it better, but eh. Also, have you seen Akagi?

I have not. Hard for me to get into mahjong since I know nothing about it.
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WhiteLens posted...

Oh yeah, how could I have forgotten the show that SAVED ANIME?

swordz, since you're all about Senran right now, you should just watch that.

Wasn't this Fractale?
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Oh hey there's going to be an SAO season 3 with the Alicization arc, which is the one LN readers always raved about.

I am actually a lot more excited for this than I would have expected.
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Ignoring the movie, SAO went out on a high note after an awful season 2 with the last arc. Somehow I have little faith that it will continue to keep ot up.
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In my case I'm generally a fan of SAO actually. The show is pretty hit-or-miss for me, but I really liked the parts that were hits for me. Only bad parts were sort of ALO, the three episode Excalibur arc, and then the last two-ish episodes of the GGO arc.
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Honestly the only thing I can look back on fondly is the first half of SAO proper.....mostly....and Mother's Rosario, which is quality.

I really hate GGO.
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Is Alicization even done in the SAO books? Last I'd heard it wasn't finished yet. Though maybe there's a good stopping point? I dunno.

Wonder how the movie is. Seems like it could be entertaining.

And aww, I liked the Excalibur stuff.
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also apparently the GGO spinoff by the Kino's Journey author starring a 6' tall girl who plays online games so she can be short is getting an anime
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tazzyboyishere posted...

I have not. Hard for me to get into mahjong since I know nothing about it.

I will teach you mahjong if you fix this.
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Index S3 has been announced

still waiting for Haruhi S3 and Baccano! S2

(these will never happen)
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Is Haruhi even popular anymore?
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The mismanagement of Haruhi might be the greatest tragedy in the history of the industry.

Seriously, has any other series gone from quite possibly the most popular in the world to completely irrelevant as fast as that one did?
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It's good enough to withstand time I think, even if the "fad" is gone.
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to be fair, part of the mismanagement of Haruhi is because the author doesn't write
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Oh snap Index 3
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th3l3fty posted...

to be fair, part of the mismanagement of Haruhi is because the author doesn't write

This is correct.

pjbasis posted...

It's good enough to withstand time I think, even if the "fad" is gone.

This is also true, but we're talking popularity/relevance, not quality
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I thought Haruhi was ended because the VA got a boyfriend and everyone broke their merch.
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Consider that The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan is a thing that happened and Aya Hirano still voiced Haruhi in that, I somewhat doubt that's the case.

th3l3fty posted...

to be fair, part of the mismanagement of Haruhi is because the author doesn't write

That's probably the better reason why more real Haruhi hasn't been happening.
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Don't they have a lot of Haruhi material they haven't animated? I mean even if the author was like HxH slow they should still have enough for another movie or something right?

Anyways beated S2 of Hero Academia. What a great show. Some of the guys are seriously just lmao tier though and could be replaced by anybody like the meathead who gets stronger eating sugar, tape guy and the guy who talks to animals. S2 ramped things up with an exciting sports festival and some more real combat that to show off more of the supporting cast. Quality waifus in this show even if a lot don't have much screen time. Kyouka aka Earphone Jack so good. I wish she was the main girl because she's got the cool factor. The main guys are pretty great too aside from Bakugo who is kinda annoying since he's literally always pissed off and shouting.

Best bros - All Might, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Iida and Deku.

Best waifus - Pretty much all of them though Kyouka's my favorite at the moment.

yeah there's like five and a half unanimated volumes of Haruhi (The anime+movie cover the first five+half of 6, I believe). Though the four years between volumes 9 and 10/11 did a ton to kill any sort of hype/momentum the series had, Volume 9 had been out for nearly three full years when Disappearance was first released, and if Kadokawa didn't hate money so much they could've capitalized on that to keep going.
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Always a shame when a good anime never continues, but especially so when the source material is an LN.

Will start Titan S2 either tonight or tomorrow. It's always a shame when a waifu you like has almost no art out there. If Kyouka was the lead girl of Hero Academia she'd probably have more, but oh well. Surprised Soma doesn't have any uncensored original art too considering it's buy a literal porn artist. I thought the manga volumes might be uncensored or something like TLR, but I guess that isn't the case?

Also when the fuck are we getting Prison School S2? That last manga arc was more than long enough for another 12-13 episodes

Kadokawa got a lot of other big series since, so they can probably put Haruhi S3 in the Break Glass in case of emergency corner. Haruhi S3 might as well be Half Life 3 of anime.

On a side note, been watching a little bit more Monogatari lately, still have plenty to catch up on but it did have me thinking of one thing.

What is the best romance storyline in anime? (excluding manga just for this)

I'm not talking about the couples who are most lovey dovey like Kirito/Asuna. I mean the ones where the story surrounding the romantic angle was enjoyable to see develop. Koyomi/Hitagi over the many eps I've seen comes off as a huge draw for me even watching the show.
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voltch posted...

What is the best romance storyline in anime?

Harima and Tenma
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Best romance storyline in an anime huh...hmm I don't really know what I would pick. I'd have a much harder time than everybody else here most likely since I've liked maybe 1% or less of anime romances/couples I've seen. For some of the ones I do like the story around them isn't really very interesting or anything either.

In actuality it's Meruem/Komugi from Hunter x Hunter and I'm not sure there's anything close.
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Well I started My Hero Academia today due to a combination of this board and Glass Reflection speaking highly of it. This show is infectiously fun. Really strong first episode despite this kid's face making me burst out laughing at literally all the wrong moments.

As for best romance storyline I think that's hard to say. Part of me wants to say Toradora which is also my favorite anime. But, I think of that as less of a romance storyline and more as a story of self-discovery told through that is told through the context of romance, if that makes sense. My next thought after that is probably Clannad. I do view that in a sort of similar manner that I just desribed for Toradora actually (though less so), but I think Clannad is the one I would end up picking anyways? There are a few other candidates I can think of that I like, but I don't think they really fit for one reason or another
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tazzyboyishere posted...

In actuality it's Meruem/Komugi from Hunter x Hunter and I'm not sure there's anything close.

This is another good one but I have trouble unambiguously declaring it as a romance, if that makes sense.
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tazzyboyishere posted...

In actuality it's Meruem/Komugi from Hunter x Hunter and I'm not sure there's anything close.

That's a strong one.

Can't agree with clannad, show is great, but Tomoya's personal growth was more engaging a plotline, than him carrying the burden that is nagisa.
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I'm going to claim it's Ryougi/Mikiya, and not at all simply because I consider Kara no Kyoukai the best series ever.
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It's obviously the greatest two love stories ever told aka Oreimo and Yosuga no Sora

voltch posted...

tazzyboyishere posted...

In actuality it's Meruem/Komugi from Hunter x Hunter and I'm not sure there's anything close.

That's a strong one.

Can't agree with clannad, show is great, but Tomoya's personal growth was more engaging a plotline, than him carrying the burden that is nagisa.

Yeah this is what I was alluding to with this bit:

I do view that in a sort of similar manner that I just desribed for Toradora actually (though less so)

Ultimately I'm not sure I have an answer I'm really satisfied with. The other things that came to mind are Steins;Gate, Spice and Wolf, and Strawberry Panic, if that gives any ideas.

edit: Please no one use this comment as a recommendation for Strawberry Panic because I don't think you will like it if you watch it from this point of view.
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Oh speaking of KnK I just finished watching the first seven movies plus epilogue earlier today. Was alright overall. Had difficulty following the plot tbh. 5 was fucking outstanding though, and my favorite by far. Unsure if I wanna check out the final movie since it seems like it's a spin-off?
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tazzyboyishere posted...

Oh speaking of KnK I just finished watching the first seven movies plus epilogue earlier today. Was alright overall. Had difficulty following the plot tbh. 5 was fucking outstanding though, and my favorite by far. Unsure if I wanna check out the final movie since it seems like it's a spin-off?

Mirai Fukuin/Future Gospel is not a spinoff. Extra Chorus is a set of small side stories that aren't important, but are still entertaining
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For recent stuff, your name produced something very solid.
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Anime where I at least like the couple though I don't think they really apply for story purposes:

Kokoro Connect
Ichigo 100%
Kimi ni Todoke
Uhh I can probably think of some more maybe

Your Name and Garden of Words both pretty good.

Your Name is a tier below the others I mentioned in my eyes though, and Garden of Words is another case where I have trouble with definitively calling it a romance.
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Reg posted...

Mirai Fukuin/Future Gospel is not a spinoff.

Oh, well then I will likely watch it. Been really bad at watching anime movies (And movies in general) the past few years, so I'm trying to watch one anime film every weekend.
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I need to check out those KnK movies at some point. Wish they were on a stream service I already have to make it easier especially since I dunno how my laptop will really hold up these days. I haven't watched an anime on it since uh probably whenever Railgun S2 or Kill La Kill was airing I think. Mine can't really handle 1080p or Hi10 or any of those fancy codings people use.

I really do love KnK and would say it's worth a month of Strike subscription just to watch them, assuming you already have Prime.

The best romance in anime is Eureka and Renton, because that's what the back of the blu ray box says and whyyyyyyyy would they just LIE about that?
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ef and Ore Monogatari are pretty fantastic for romance.

7 is my favorite KnK movie. Awesome stuff.
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I don't have Prime. All these different streaming services are killing me because everybody wants in on it these days