Poll of the Day > Anime, Manga, VN, JRPG, Related Things Discussion Topic C

(+) Yeah! (+)

agesboy posted...

her "selfishness"

I mean, it was her drive to show everyone how wonderful magic was that let her thrust herself into extreme danger against the dragon and something she did even if it meant being ostracized. It just doesn't make sense that if given an out she wouldn't be happy to go right back to that. She put her life on the line multiple times and it feels like the dragon arc was to get us to accept just how much it means everything to her. Then the next arc is about how you shouldn't hide your feelings from those you care about, and then the final arc is hiding your feelings and giving up on the one thing you cared about so much you'd throw your life away for it for extremely short sided and frankly stupid reasons.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

I mean, it was her drive to show everyone how wonderful magic was that let her thrust herself into extreme danger against the dragon and something she did even if it meant being ostracized.

her drive was to personally use magic, not show that it was great. society already knows it's great but she LOVES it intrinsically. she's sacrificing as much as reasonably possible to work towards being able to use magic

Finished Isekai Ojisan. Hopefully they make more of it. Ojisan's obliviousness is great every time, even though you can see it coming.

Finally picked up Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl, going to be watching that tomorrow.

agesboy posted...

her drive was to personally use magic, not show that it was great.

I'm fairly positive it's almost a direct quote that she wanted to show people how great magic is, from during the dragon fight, when euphie asks why she would go so far. While she does very much want to be able to use magic herself, she also wants that for everybody, not just the nobility. You can actually see throughout the show that most people don't realize how amazing magic is and just see it as a tool to maintain power, as shown by nobody really caring that she is trying to literally fly, which no one can do that way with magic. They even only start getting interested when economic gain gets brought up. The insane utility of all of her inventions is completely glossed over, because people don't really care.

Anyway, I looked up what happens in the novels and now I no longer care enough about the show to keep up the debate.

Woohoo, some more anime has ended and now I've got stuff to watch. More Danmachi, Iruma, and the second season of Fumetsu.

Yeah this season of danmachi was amazing. The final episode was a little meh, but everything else was top tier for the show. I'm sad I have to wait to watch more. Wonder when a season 5 will air. It seems like the source is still about 2 arcs ahead of where the anime ended so there should already be enough for a season 5 I think.

Nice. While it does suck to have to wait and have gaps in between seasons, I do prefer this to having a show constantly running and plagued with filler arcs.

Finally reached Chapter 7 of Xeno 3.

Lots of things revealed finally. Will have to see how it all resolves before I give my thoughts on it. I will say that I am glad that Nia still kept part of her goofy charm.

And can I just say that they did Sena dirty with her Side Story!?

She was barely in it! Not only was it the shortest of the Side Stories, she wasn't even the main feature of it! It felt more like Ghondor's Ascension quest rather than Sena's. They really wasted an opportunity to flesh out her backstory or explore her personality more.

T0ffee posted...

And can I just say that they did Sena dirty with her Side Story!?

That's a common complaint. Mostly, the concept of the story revolves around Shania and Ghondor being character foils for Sena and Mio, exploring what might have happened to Sena if she didn't have the combat talent and support from her friends that she did have. It's one that you really have to take a step back and think about in the broader scope of the story - particularly considering just how valuable her interactions with the party have been - instead of getting the details directly. Not everyone's a fan of that, which is understandable, given that everyone else's side story revolves around them confronting and overcoming specific traumas that have shaped them, and it just didn't do that for Sena. Granted, Sena didn't really have a specific trauma (aside from Miyabi, but that was Mio's), and her constant battles with her own insecurities have been shown continuously throughout the game in flashbacks and present-day events (perhaps most notably, the kamikaze attack at the end of chapter 5), but there still could have been more done to show her overcoming that in her side story.

A lot of people feel that the final non-DLC hero quest fills the role of Sena's side story better, in that it actually grows her as a character, and I think there's plenty of room to argue that. By your reaction to her side story, I expect you're going to end up in the same camp when you get there.

T0ffee posted...

I will say that I am glad that Nia still kept part of her goofy charm.

I really have to appreciate the dramatic irony in Nia's portrayal this time around. They do such a good job of having her mostly keep up the regal, almost sacred pretense that everyone expects because they've never known another side to their queen, but slipping up just enough to entertain the players who know what she's really like and ever-so-slightly confuse the party (who, of course, thinks they must have misunderstood because she's the queen and obviously she couldn't have done something so goofy). It's really well played to be a wonderful bit of fanservice and extra fun for those that played 2, while still being entertaining for those that haven't.

Very happy I decided to continue on with 3-gatsu no lion. Into the manga-only sections (just finishing up Volume 10) and the current arc is absolutely amazing.

Beat the final boss of Xeno 3.

All I can say for the ending is eeeehhhh...

The final battle itself was hype though.

As for the final final scenes, ehhhhh... Too ambiguous for my tastes, especially comparing it to the clear-cut endings of the previous Xeno titles.

So the worlds are fated to smash into each other again. But it feels inconsistent since Aionios is supposed to be the suspended state of initial impact stretched out for eternity, but in the end we hear a passage from Mio's diary that she was able to keep living for a couple of months?

Off-seeing is a minor thing that also bugged me. The way the game heavily focused on it in the early parts of the game, I thought it would have more impact on the overall design of the world than it ended up being.

Like I was waiting for the reveal that it was sending off the data back to Origin or something, but no, it really was just a fancy funeral rite since mud dolls and personal belongings could also emit light.

It's a weird to be feeling like this for this game since I can remember a distinct sense of satisfaction and finality when I finished 1 and 2, but for this one, it didn't satisfy me as much. It wasn't bad but I can't say it was good either.

Still gonna try to 100% the game though. Though I do so with the knowledge that as far as the story goes, what I'm gonna do would be pointless in the end.

Also, side note, it took until the final scene for it to click with me that Lanz was supposed to be a machina. Like all Agnians were Blade Eaters, Flesh Eaters, or Blades; and Keves are Homs, High Entia and Machina. They REALLY changed up the machina designs between the games apparently.

Man, onimai is hilarious to me because of how amazing the show looks for no reason. It's not even like bocchi or nichijou where the incredibly animation adds to the gags, it's just really well animated and drawn for the hell of it. So much solid animation and movement and different clothing and angles used.

T0ffee posted...

Though I do so with the knowledge that as far as the story goes, what I'm gonna do would be

That's kills it for me.

Are there any good JRPGs for the Switch that aren't on other systems?

T0ffee posted...

Still gonna try to 100% the game though. Though I do so with the knowledge that as far as the story goes, what I'm gonna do would be pointless in the end.

Yes and no. The people you're helping aren't going to exist anymore the way you currently see them existing, but consider why Moebius was able to arise in the first place: Everyone collectively feared the uncertain future so much that - with the help of the core crystals they were all stored in - they effectively manifested a god who stopped the future from coming. That fear didn't disappear when our heroes showed up and started kicking Moebius in the strip. Pretty much every colony you do side quests in has some characters that are hesitant to have their clocks smashed because they aren't sure how they're going to survive once the status quo is broken, and the vast majority of side quests revolve around one or more characters trying to navigate the challenges of their newfound freedom. If all you did was stab Z in the face until he stopped moebin, with nothing else done to change the people, there's ample reason to believe that Moebius would just be created again once Origin restarted (heck, there's no reason to believe that cycle hasn't already happened before, but that's highly speculative).

All of those successful side quests help to build people's confidence that there's something better waiting on the other side, even if they can't see it. By the time you finish a given colony's side quests, you've got everyone there on board with killing Z and breaking the cycle they've been bound to. This is why it's so significant that *everyone* joins the assault on Origin: They're all still scared, but they've tempered that fear with enough hope that they're still willing to fight and die for a future that they believe will be better, a belief that will prevent Moebius from arising again. That's an ending the game will give you regardless of how many side quests you do, but where it's left somewhat ambiguous I like to think that doing more side quests helps improve the chances that the cycle gets broken, to the point that 100% side quest completion could be considered canon.

It's also stated quite explicitly that everyone in Aionios is also in Origin somehow, as well as being clearly shown that Origin has stored data on what happens in Aionios (Z's highlight reels, the occasional anomaly like Eunie being able to remember their past lives, etc.). The forms you see the characters in now will cease to exist, but in some capacity the memories of their time in Aionios will persist for their counterparts in the original worlds (all but explicitly suggested by Noah hearing Mio's flute in the post-credit scene). To some extent, the original versions of everyone will remember and/or be influenced by the side quests you did for their Aionios incarnations. The people of the city raise some more questions there, in that there were dozens of generations of people born in Aionios with no obvious counterparts elsewhere, but Melia's comments on the nature of Origin seem to imply that they also have counterparts in Origin, whether corresponding to somebody who will eventually be born (which is weirdly deterministic but not outside of the realm of possibility for a Xeno game) or having been based on the record of somebody already stored there.

It's not "for nothing," but you do have to dig a bit deeper than face value.

T0ffee posted...

Also, side note, it took until the final scene for it to click with me that Lanz was supposed to be a machina. Like all Agnians were Blade Eaters, Flesh Eaters, or Blades; and Keves are Homs, High Entia and Machina. They REALLY changed up the machina designs between the games apparently.

It didn't take me quite that long, but it did take me a lot longer than it should have. The XB1 races kind of play out weirdly in 3, especially as far as lifespans are concerned, and machina are the most egregious example of that.

T0ffee posted...

As for the final final scenes, ehhhhh... Too ambiguous for my tastes, especially comparing it to the clear-cut endings of the previous Xeno titles.

Are they really that much more clear-cut, though? Both 1 and 2 (we'll ignore X because it doesn't have an ending) end with "Well, there's that apocalypse averted, let's all go try to make new lives in this new world," which isn't all that different from how 3 ends. The only real difference is that 1 answers the question of whether or not Fiora survives and 2 confirms that Pyra/Mythra can be (and are) reborn from their core crystal, while 3 leaves its most burning question of "will they meet again?" without an explicit answer (though there are enough hints suggesting that the ending is optimistic that I'd be very surprised if they didn't).

Magical revolution ended and now I can complain even more. Oh yay. At least I feel validated even though the show did it in the dumbest way possible, because they did exactly what I said they should have done from the start, just for some reason they did it after the spirit contract which also completely nonsensically did not rob euphie of anything and she remembered everything about who she was and it's an improbably happy ending. But yeah, they give magic to the commoners, they overturn tradition, and they disband the nobility entirely turning it into a democracy IIRC. Literally exactly what they could have done but without the spirit contract that by all rights should have given this a tragic ending.

And it's so frustrating because god damn, this show was almost great, but they just could not find a plausable way to have an emotional climax between the two leads, and their hamfisting of it ruined anis's character. They even had the two girls kiss, something I was worried they wouldn't do and it was great. Euphie in general became a gigachad, except the stupidity about doing the spirit contract. Such a damn shame, but it's over and I never have to think about it again. Time to watch bofuri to cleanse my brain and soul of this mess. Maybe one day, I'll get a good yuri. Feels real doubtful at this point though.

Wow, the juxtaposition of having both tomo and magic revolution on the same day hurts. Why couldn't the yuri have been the one to play out well? Regardless, tomo is great and I'm sad to see it end. Carol best girl and even tried to give me a little yuri in the last episode. Honestly though, every character is great, except the guy that likes misuzu. Wonder what next weeks episode is even gonna be though, because it feels like it could easily end here. I guess an epilogue of sorts.

I hope we get a season 2 of farming like in another world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lucDS6UueGw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHKWEeotdHA

and the nice songs are bonus

Started watching Ice guy and cool female colleague. It's kind of sappy, but still enjoyable.

More shows wrapping up. Finished off blue lock which was pretty great after the first several episodes. I think the 5v5 format works way better for how the show works. Hoping we get another season before long.

Onimai also ended and I really enjoyed after the intro. It's definitely something where you need to not think too hard about the premise but that aside it's pretty funny and wholesome. Plus they threw us a drunk yuri kiss with the sister and her friend so bonus points for that. The show is very yuri bait. It ended at a fine point but I still want to see another season or two.

Farming isekai was fun but I feel like I've had my fill. Wouldn't be sad if it never got another season and wouldn't be surprised if I drop half way through if it does.

Revengers was fine. I was initially disappointed because I thought it'd be a little more grounded and focused revenge tale whereas it's actually mostly misfit group of assassins get revenge for people that died (but had enough time to bite gold). It's no samurai champloo but it still ended up being decent and worth the watch. Would have preferred if it ended differently but it's fine.

Iceblade was right on that border of watchable and unwatchable but it had a few unique gags and quirks that kept me from dropping it. Most definitely is not a good anime but it's fine isekai filler trash.

Watching through nagatoro 2nd season now (at episode 6 currently). It's pretty good and sweeter than the first season.

Also have angel next door to finish and possibly beasts of ars if I decide to catch up. Overall this season has been one of the weaker seasons of late, but still not bad. Also heard mushoku tensei S2 is confirmed for summer which is awesome if true. As much as I enjoyed Bind's work on Onimai, it's no competition compared to mushoku tensei.

I guess the season wrapped up this weekend.
I only watched 4 anime this season, and dropped Onimai 3/4 of the way through so my anime of the season is at no surprise to all Pokemon: Aim to be a Pokemon Master for concluding my 25 year run with Pokemon.

That's a surprise. I feel the last half of Onimai was the best part. Handyman Saitou just wrapped up and it's my hidden gem of the season I guess. The final episode was such a feel good way to wrap up the season. Would be happy to watch another season but it's fine if it ends here as well.

There's still surprsingly a lot of anime that haven't ended yet. A lot of 13 episode shows and bofuri which wa delayed and then vinland saga thats 24 episodes.

Haven't really been feeling the pull to 100% Xeno 3, so I started on a new game now, Harvestella.

It's been good so far. The combat is a bit meh though with no real way to dodge or block attacks.

And the farming is a bit on the simple side.

The graphics and sound design are GORGEOUS though.

I wouldn't say this is better than Rune Factory though. It does some things better than RF but there are other things worse.

Honestly if they can somehow make a game that combines the best part of both games, that would be the perfect Rune Factory game.

Watching through more nagatoro, I feel like this show does what shikimori tried to do last season but way better. The moments when nagatoro comes to the rescue actually make her look cool and the guy is a bit of weak willed loser, but is an enjoyable character and interesting instead of the abomination of a main male character in shikimori. It's just a much better execution of strong girl saves her boyfriend (even if they aren't actually dating in nagatoro).

This show has my preferred blend of romance to comedy in a romantic comedy (similar to kaguya) and this show in particular is pretty good at hopping from one to the other and back again in a single scene. Wonder if it'll get a season 3.

This weeks vinland saga finally started to heat up and give us some quality violence. This show would be better without thorfinn in it. Same as first season. We get askeladd in season 1 and thorgil in season 2.

Also reborn to master the blade ended and it was an incredibly weak show. Nothing especially wrong with it, just no strong points either. Characters were bland and one note, plot could maybe have some potential with a different cast, and the action was generic and nonsensical. A higher average quality than iceblade but without any of the quirks that made that one a bit more bearable.

After reading lion, I'm now in a manga-reading binge. Looked at Young Animal's currently running manga, and a new seriea called Boku no Suki na Hito ga Suki na Hito (My Crush's Crush) caught my eye.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

This weeks vinland saga finally started to heat up and give us some quality violence. This show would be better without thorfinn in it. Same as first season. We get askeladd in season 1 and thorgil in season 2.

Just watch another show. Or keep hate watching. Thorfinn isn't going anywhere.

FellWolf posted...

Just watch another show. Or keep hate watching. Thorfinn isn't going anywhere.

I like the show quite a bit. Probably the best show airing this season. I just find that season 1 was all about askaladd (which was amazing) and season 2 is doing a great job giving us what would be a fantastic character arc about redemption but ruined by a foolish conclusion, which leaves us with a lack of action. You just can't be a pacifist in the world they live in. If his father hadn't been a pacifist, literal thousands of people wouldn't have died. There's a reason people at war kill people, and it's not because they are all monsters.

Youtube is now feeding me an strange amount of Onimai content. The Youtube algorithm never ceases to amaze me.

YoukaiSlayer posted...

If his father hadn't been a pacifist, literal thousands of people wouldn't have died.

How far back are you taking this? because they all would have died or been enslaved by Askaladds if he didn't sacrifice himself. Archers are op.

FellWolf posted...

How far back are you taking this?

Askaladd and his band would have done far less if they had been nearly obliterated by thors and thorfinn himself goes on to kill 100s all because of the situation. If thors had been in better form and willing to kill, he really might have taken askaladd down, which would have effectively avoided an entire war. And realistically it's very strange that thorfinn wasn't sold as a slave or killed right after that, given the lengths askaladd was willing to go to (plot armor effectively, no one else in the show after that was afforded such luck, even those that didn't fight back).

Of course, the issue with the pacifism is even more apparent if the situation is more reasonable. Imagine the archers hadn't been there. They all might have died just because thors wouldn't kill anyone. If you can't stop the violence from happening, then avoiding participation is just self satisfaction, you aren't actually contributing to making the world a better place. How are you gonna look at your dead family and think "oh wow, sure was a good thing I didn't protect them".

In a far more positive note, tomo-chan is a girl just ended and it was great. One of the best romcoms out there. Not only were the characters all great, but it ended conclusively and satisfyingly. It doesn't top kaguya-sama, but this had a great romance in just 13 episodes without feeling rushed at all, and thats something to praise. Sad there won't be anymore (outside of a possible ova for the valentines episode) but it ended at the ideal place.

lol NA priconne's dying already and they havent gotten to the cool bits of part 2

BokuYaba airs at 3am JST.
What is the demographic for 3am anime in Japan? That's awfully late isn't it?

Yeah theres another that airs just one hour earlier than that as well and nothing that ended up airing yesterday in US timezones. Late night season it feels like. First episodes of the new season should be up at any moment. Hopefully it's a good one. Didn't see too many new anime that looked especially good so I'm gonna have to hope for a pleasant surprise. Lot's of solid sequels and vinland saga is still continuing from last season. Supposedly somebody working on demon slayer said this season is going to be on another level of animation thats beyond what they've done so far. Hopefully we don't get many delays this season.

smartphone isekai should actually go places this season

Been watching some classic Yu-Gi-Oh since it came to a free streaming service, and I forgot just how much cheating and malicious manipulation there was in the first season. (Actual cheating, not just taking advantage of the poorly defined rules)

• Kaiba kidnapped grandpa, hospitalized him and then ripped up his Blue-Eyes just so nobody else would have one
• Mai used perfume to pretend she had ESP
• Weevil threw away Exodia, then lured Yugi to the forest where he had the field advantage
• Panik strapping victims in and using a freaking flamethrower
• Kaiba hacking the network to help Yugi win against fake Kaiba
• Bandit Keith kidnapping Joey, stealing his own lackeys' star chips, stealing Joey's verification card, and trying to coerce Pegasus at fingerpoint
• Pegasus

March was a mess of a month. Going to be a while before I can catch up on everything I was watching.

Enough people recommended the Yamada lv999 anime and I quite enjoyed the first episode.
Nothing will pry BokuYaba from this season's anime of the season from me however.

keyblader1985 posted...

at fingerpoint

hehehe

i totally forgot i'd read the yamada manga, good stuff

Started off the new season with heaven and hell. Specifically heavenly delusion and hell's paradise. Heavenly delusion has a lot of mostly good cg but it's not up to studio orange's level. Everything is pretty well presented though. The world is interesting and mysterious and the characters are immediately likeable, especially the main girl.

Hell's paradise has a bit more hype behind it and the first episode was great. Mostly an introduction to the plot but it was entertaining and set the stage well. The brief bits of action we got were well animated and the plot is interesting. Reminds of sekiro in some ways and that game is GOATed.

Also finished off reincarnated exorcist which was slightly better than expected but still not that great. Like top of C tier isekai. Would probably watch a season 2.

Still have the last episode of nagatoro and the first episode of yamada level 999.

So far I'm pleasantly surprised by the first two shows I tried. Gonna be a pretty good season.

Wow this really is a season of Romantic Comedies. I saw My Clueless First friend but I was apprehensive at first because it's a shounen about elementary schoolers, but it totally works and has wide market appeal. Only thing I generally don't like about anime is that they don't spend enough time creating stories about adults, but I guess we see that in Yamada Level 999 where the characters seem to be in their early 20s.

isn't very often you get non-school settings for non-fantasy and it sucks yeah. there've been some great long visual novels that explore the lives of working adults (damekoi features a fucking divorced main character, the middle parts of white album 2 focus on college ages and they're graduated by the later parts, musicus is about a high school dropout who leans fully into becoming independent via music), but they're pretty rare

As much as I like isekai, it's not very often that I find one that I really liked. However, Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi was really nice for me. Can't quite put my finger on what I liked so much about it, but I really did find it enjoyable.

Also recently watched Benriya isekai, which I did like overall, but not nearly as much as Tondemo.

dragon504 posted...

As much as I like isekai, it's not very often that I find one that I really liked. However, Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi was really nice for me. Can't quite put my finger on what I liked so much about it, but I really did find it enjoyable.

I thought it was pretty great except for when it felt like it had to do fights, that show doesn't need any at all except Fel offscreen soloing boss monsters and Sui occasionally being a psychopath.

I do enjoy its lower stakes. It's probably the closest to an isekai show I've been wanting, which is a low stakes Kino's Journey with a fairly lighthearted demeanor.

Yeah I wish there were more low stakes fantasy in general. You don't always need to go fight the demon king.

Watched my home hero and man it has some awful production. Like, I'm pretty sure nothing that wasn't a main character or directly interacting with a main character moved at all during the entire episode. Lot's of panning stills and questionable cuts. It's a shame too because the story is relatively interesting.

Also watched episode 1 of yamada level 999 and it was ok.

Finished up nagatoro S2 and it was pretty great. Hope we get a season 3 eventually.

Is that a light novel or a manga first?

Finally finished up last season with mou ippon. This ended up better than I expected and I'd really like a season 2 although I feel like it's unlikely. They really pulled out all the stops for the last match and made judo look really cool. It's a shame all the fights didn't have that level of sakuga.

Revelation34 posted...

Is that a light novel or a manga first?

Which show?