|
|
Post by DaveyJoe on Nov 14, 2018 2:19:27 GMT
Anyone watching Goblin Slayer? First episode was very controversial, but it's been the #1 anime on Crunchyroll for the United States this fall.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mecha-StannisForever on Jan 30, 2019 1:45:13 GMT
Anyone watching Goblin Slayer? First episode was very controversial, but it's been the #1 anime on Crunchyroll for the United States this fall. I finished the whole series. I'm not fully sure how to feel about it. Yes the first episode was controversial, but there's no fully graphic scenes after that. There are a lot of references to uncomfortable subjects, namely rape, and the whole thing does at times, come off as somewhat tasteless, or tone death. The author was going for a cheap way to make his monsters monstrous. Of course when you make a group like that, which are just blanket evil, there's a lot of baggage that comes along with that, particularly in a political climate that can be seen as contrasting with real world debates about similar issues. The story itself isn't that impressive. It's basically a D&D game, where the players (the gods) are controlling the events to some degree (or at least it's inferred). The goblins, and some other villains, are seemingly the result of someone intentionally creating the worst possible scenarios. Honestly, I did enjoy the series for what it was. The Goblins Slaying is pretty fun, and the animation is usually pretty decent. There's a lot that can be inferred here, but I think the biggest issue is that we (as westerners) make the mistake of assuming that this is written under a western perspective. It isn't. And I think that's the biggest problem with what I see in a lot of the shows major criticisms. That said, the shows use of sexual violence is at times pretty cheap, and in that case, the criticism is justified. That said, I think it's important to stress that it isn't done as some sort of weird fanservice or anything. It's simply, as I said earlier, tone death. The series has also garnered the attention of some of the internet's more "alternate" elements for lack of a better term. Which has sadly done the show no favours. It's not the first anime to use themes like this, nor is it the worst. Simply the latest. As an aside, it got banned from the Crunchyroll anime awards, and while I understand the reasons behind it, I've got to disagree. While this certainly isn't my favourite anime of the year (that was Tokyo Ghoul), the show isn't guilty of anything that should warrant it's removal from the awards. I think censorship like that is equally, if not more so problematic than misuse of themes. Then again, I see videos like "Crunchyroll gives in to SJWs" and it honestly makes it difficult to defend this show without seeming like you're taking some kind of political stance. |
|
|
|
Post by DaveyJoe on Jan 30, 2019 23:57:55 GMT
Anyone watching Goblin Slayer? First episode was very controversial, but it's been the #1 anime on Crunchyroll for the United States this fall. I finished the whole series. I'm not fully sure how to feel about it. Yes the first episode was controversial, but there's no fully graphic scenes after that. There are a lot of references to uncomfortable subjects, namely rape, and the whole thing does at times, come off as somewhat tasteless, or tone death. The author was going for a cheap way to make his monsters monstrous. Of course when you make a group like that, which are just blanket evil, there's a lot of baggage that comes along with that, particularly in a political climate that can be seen as contrasting with real world debates about similar issues. The story itself isn't that impressive. It's basically a D&D game, where the players (the gods) are controlling the events to some degree (or at least it's inferred). The goblins, and some other villains, are seemingly the result of someone intentionally creating the worst possible scenarios. Honestly, I did enjoy the series for what it was. The Goblins Slaying is pretty fun, and the animation is usually pretty decent. There's a lot that can be inferred here, but I think the biggest issue is that we (as westerners) make the mistake of assuming that this is written under a western perspective. It isn't. And I think that's the biggest problem with what I see in a lot of the shows major criticisms. That said, the shows use of sexual violence is at times pretty cheap, and in that case, the criticism is justified. That said, I think it's important to stress that it isn't done as some sort of weird fanservice or anything. It's simply, as I said earlier, tone death. The series has also garnered the attention of some of the internet's more "alternate" elements for lack of a better term. Which has sadly done the show no favours. It's not the first anime to use themes like this, nor is it the worst. Simply the latest. As an aside, it got banned from the Crunchyroll anime awards, and while I understand the reasons behind it, I've got to disagree. While this certainly isn't my favourite anime of the year (that was Tokyo Ghoul), the show isn't guilty of anything that should warrant it's removal from the awards. I think censorship like that is equally, if not more so problematic than misuse of themes. Then again, I see videos like "Crunchyroll gives in to SJWs" and it honestly makes it difficult to defend this show without seeming like you're taking some kind of political stance. In the ultimate case of irony, I would to point out that you're looking for the phrase tone-deaf.  But I appreciate your remarks about the show. I do want to check it out eventually, and I know what you mean about a certain controversy making it difficult to judge something on its own merits. The same thing happened with the Ghostbusters reboot from 2016 where as a childhood fan of the original movies and cartoon series, it was difficult for me to argue against the reboot online without being accused of some type of misogyny. So would you consider this series to be an "Isekai?" I like dark action/fantasy anime shows, but I've never watched an Isekai. I'm skeptical of the genre because I feel like the idea of a game or virtual reality world would undermine the suspense if the characters aren't in real danger. |
|
|
|
Post by Basil on Feb 6, 2019 20:00:47 GMT
One of my favourite animes of all time, probably my second-favourite after DBZ.  Though I gotta say, I hate how the English dub has "westerninzed" the names of all the characters. It's not Jimmy, it's Shinichi Kudo ... and it's also not Rachel and Richard Moore, it's Ran and Kogoro Mori. I mean, the show takes place in Japan and is full of references to Japanese culture and way of life ... so why give the characters American names? At least the German dub left them their original names. |
|
|
|
Post by Mecha-StannisForever on Feb 15, 2019 17:19:13 GMT
I finished the whole series. I'm not fully sure how to feel about it. Yes the first episode was controversial, but there's no fully graphic scenes after that. There are a lot of references to uncomfortable subjects, namely rape, and the whole thing does at times, come off as somewhat tasteless, or tone death. The author was going for a cheap way to make his monsters monstrous. Of course when you make a group like that, which are just blanket evil, there's a lot of baggage that comes along with that, particularly in a political climate that can be seen as contrasting with real world debates about similar issues. The story itself isn't that impressive. It's basically a D&D game, where the players (the gods) are controlling the events to some degree (or at least it's inferred). The goblins, and some other villains, are seemingly the result of someone intentionally creating the worst possible scenarios. Honestly, I did enjoy the series for what it was. The Goblins Slaying is pretty fun, and the animation is usually pretty decent. There's a lot that can be inferred here, but I think the biggest issue is that we (as westerners) make the mistake of assuming that this is written under a western perspective. It isn't. And I think that's the biggest problem with what I see in a lot of the shows major criticisms. That said, the shows use of sexual violence is at times pretty cheap, and in that case, the criticism is justified. That said, I think it's important to stress that it isn't done as some sort of weird fanservice or anything. It's simply, as I said earlier, tone death. The series has also garnered the attention of some of the internet's more "alternate" elements for lack of a better term. Which has sadly done the show no favours. It's not the first anime to use themes like this, nor is it the worst. Simply the latest. As an aside, it got banned from the Crunchyroll anime awards, and while I understand the reasons behind it, I've got to disagree. While this certainly isn't my favourite anime of the year (that was Tokyo Ghoul), the show isn't guilty of anything that should warrant it's removal from the awards. I think censorship like that is equally, if not more so problematic than misuse of themes. Then again, I see videos like "Crunchyroll gives in to SJWs" and it honestly makes it difficult to defend this show without seeming like you're taking some kind of political stance. In the ultimate case of irony, I would to point out that you're looking for the phrase tone-deaf. But I appreciate your remarks about the show. I do want to check it out eventually, and I know what you mean about a certain controversy making it difficult to judge something on its own merits. The same thing happened with the Ghostbusters reboot from 2016 where as a childhood fan of the original movies and cartoon series, it was difficult for me to argue against the reboot online without being accused of some type of misogyny. So would you consider this series to be an "Isekai?" I like dark action/fantasy anime shows, but I've never watched an Isekai. I'm skeptical of the genre because I feel like the idea of a game or virtual reality world would undermine the suspense if the characters aren't in real danger. Well shit, I thought there was something wrong with that when I was writing it...  It never really played up the game elements that much outside of world building. It's not essential to the story in a sense. And as to the lack of suspense, once your realise the first episode was playing purely on shock value, I feel like it really takes away from that feeling of suspense. Shows that have those "big" shock value moments where they kill off a bunch of characters to make it seem like no one is safe often wind up suffering from this, because your realise that regardless, there is a core group of characters who will always escape unscathed, ie. The Walking Dead of Beyond the Wall in S7 of GoT. |
|
|
|
Post by DaveyJoe on Feb 16, 2019 1:42:50 GMT
Is anybody watching Shield Hero? Apparently there's a 'raccoon girl' in it.    This intrigues me for various reasons. |
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Feb 17, 2019 16:12:01 GMT
DaveyJoe That character reminds me of Holo from Spice and Wolf (which is amazing and people should watch it if they haven't).
|
|
|
|
Post by DaveyJoe on Feb 23, 2019 1:52:57 GMT
DaveyJoe That character reminds me of Holo from Spice and Wolf  |
|
|
|
Post by Singer of Death on Feb 25, 2019 1:59:15 GMT
Spice and Wolf is the absolute shit. Who needs medieval actions and magic when you have economy lessons.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Mar 2, 2019 22:07:07 GMT
I've started to watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I'm almost done with the first part (season?) and it's pretty good. The only thing that is annoying me is that they use part of the Pokéball opening noise to indicate someone is surprised. |
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Mar 27, 2019 11:29:53 GMT
DaveyJoe I've started to watch The Rising of the Shield Hero and it's pretty good. I'm only 3 episodes in, but I'm really liking the premise and characters.
|
|
|
|
Post by DaveyJoe on Mar 29, 2019 0:00:11 GMT
DaveyJoe I've started to watch The Rising of the Shield Hero and it's pretty good. I'm only 3 episodes in, but I'm really liking the premise and characters. As of last night I am completely caught up with it, and I'm enjoying it a lot as somebody who's firmly against the concept of the Isekai genre. I do have some major issues with it, but they revolve more around issues I have with the genre and the type of culture you find in certain Anime shows, less with the execution of the series itself. I'm looking forward to discussing those more when you catch up. Last night episode 12 aired and I'm not sure if there's more coming this season or not, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. |
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Mar 29, 2019 8:36:38 GMT
RE ZERO GOT A SECOND SEASON ANNOUNCED! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
|
|
|
|
Post by Mecha-StannisForever on Mar 29, 2019 15:58:54 GMT
I've started to watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I'm almost done with the first part (season?) and it's pretty good. The only thing that is annoying me is that they use part of the Pokéball opening noise to indicate someone is surprised. One of, if not my favourite anime of all time, and not only because of Roy Mustang. So yeah, enjoy it! The first parts are good, but the story gets a lot better once it gets past a certain event. No spoilers, but yeah, enjoy! |
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Mar 30, 2019 10:42:53 GMT
DaveyJoe I've started to watch The Rising of the Shield Hero and it's pretty good. I'm only 3 episodes in, but I'm really liking the premise and characters. As of last night I am completely caught up with it, and I'm enjoying it a lot as somebody who's firmly against the concept of the Isekai genre. I do have some major issues with it, but they revolve more around issues I have with the genre and the type of culture you find in certain Anime shows, less with the execution of the series itself. I'm looking forward to discussing those more when you catch up. Last night episode 12 aired and I'm not sure if there's more coming this season or not, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts. I am almost caught up, 2 episodes left until I am up to date. I did some Googling and the first season will run for 25 episodes. I will post my thoughts once caught up, probably later today!
I really love the opening and ending of this show, it's beautiful and they contrast so well.
I've started to watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I'm almost done with the first part (season?) and it's pretty good. The only thing that is annoying me is that they use part of the Pokéball opening noise to indicate someone is surprised. One of, if not my favourite anime of all time, and not only because of Roy Mustang. So yeah, enjoy it! The first parts are good, but the story gets a lot better once it gets past a certain event. No spoilers, but yeah, enjoy! I finished FMA:B a few days after I posted that, lol - just didn't post my thoughts as I thought no one else had seen it.
My thoughts: I fucking hated the ending. The whole suspense of the final season being an epic siege/battle against Father and the homunculi it just destroyed when everything that was sacrificed is just arbitrarily brought back - e.g Alphonse doesn't really did, and gets his body back, Roy gets a Philosopher's Stone to restore his eye sight, no main character (I guess you could count Hoenheim?) actually dies when they're versing someone who took the fucking power of God into himself. I understand it's anime, but it really ruined the whole final season and sullied my experience.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the show. I loved how they were able to actually do hard hitting episodes like the Maes Hughes funeral and the storyline with Nina and the dog being combined into one being. I loved the depth the characters had, especially characters like Scar, and the characters from each region actually felt like they were unique and had their own cultures and experiences backing up their decision making and personalities. I really loved the dynamic between Greed and Ling. I do wish more minor characters, which they seemed to be building up, had more screentime; characters like Maria Ross and Hawkeye. The latter got more development, but I feel like they could have used her more. I really enjoyed seeing the inner political workings of the Capital and Wall. I think the Armstrong siblings were some of my favourite characters; Olivier moreso than Alexander.
The soundtrack of the show was absolutely breathtaking and really added to the scenes, I've since gone back to listen to certain tracks and they're just amazing. I really hated the opening and ending though . I can't remember everything I liked or disliked about the show atm, maybe some will come back to me and I'll edit this! ^^
|
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Mar 30, 2019 16:00:28 GMT
I think I am on the path to becoming a weeb, I just signed up for Crunchyroll Premium.
Also, I am caught up on Shield Hero now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Apr 3, 2019 13:45:42 GMT
Sorry for the incoming stream of consciousness, DaveyJoe , I just typed up my thoughts on what I could remember and might have got carried away on some tangents. (Shield Hero spoilers) I have to say the fake rape plot and theft of the gear was a really nice twist, which I wouldn't have seen coming if I hadn't heard some controversy around it a few weeks ago before I started watching the series. I'm glad they did it though, really set the show up to a good start imo. I really like the character of Myne, she's a class A bitch. I am excited to find out her motivations. There is obviously a systematic anti-Shield movement, I wonder if it has to do with whatever the religion is in this region/world? Both the world's versions of the Pope and nuns have been a dick to Naofumi in the trial and not allowing Raphtalia and Filo to use the Dragon Hourglass to level up.
The whole 'Rage Shield' thing still confuses me a bit - I don't think I was paying full attention when it was first introduced when they fought the undead dragon, might need to go and rewatch that scene. I initially thought it was a last stand type of thing which he can't control, but the fact he can just turn it on in the episode in which he fights Glass confused me - especially since he mentioned it wasn't anywhere in the Shield's talent tree and he couldn't find out more about it. I hope he can't just turn it on and off whenever and use it as a Get Out of Jail Free card.
I really like the main trio. I'm glad this isn't a generic plot where the protagonist is the hero everyone loves and fawns over, but he actually has to work and struggle in the world he's in. Raphtalia has developed well as a character, but I feel like her transformation from not wanting to fight to being a badass was a bit quick; I feel like they could have made it an episode or two longer, perhaps endangering them a bit more. I did like the backstory with her parents though. Filo is probably my least favourite of the three, but she's still fine. I don't really have many opinions on her since she's only been in it a few episodes. I hope they develop her more. I do like how innocent she is though.
I hope they ditch the whole Filo and Raphtalia wanting to date Naofumi stuff though, it's a bit creepy considering Raphtalia is 10 and Filo looks like a child (I'm not sure if Filo is *actually* a child since she is transforming to look like that). I also tend to dislike romance triangles and plots like this, so that also adds to it.
I'm glad that it's episodic at the moment and we haven't really learnt much about the world or the big bad which is eventually going to turn up. I feel it really makes the world more engaging and alive, alongside the fact they're going to different regions/countries soon to access the Dragon Hourglass. I hope they can manage to make each region's culture and architecture different enough.
The other Heroes are alright, I don't really have an opinion on them apart from the fact that Motoyasu is a dick. The bow and sword heroes seem alright, but I have no actual opinion of them since we only really got to see a lot of them in the first episode or two. Glass seems interesting, it'll be fun to see more of her. |
|
|
|
Post by Zadeth on Apr 6, 2019 10:41:00 GMT
I've started to watch That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime and six episodes in it's pretty good. The production value is really great. Anyone else watched any of it?
|
|
|
|
Post by Mecha-StannisForever on Apr 8, 2019 21:25:23 GMT
One of, if not my favourite anime of all time, and not only because of Roy Mustang. So yeah, enjoy it! The first parts are good, but the story gets a lot better once it gets past a certain event. No spoilers, but yeah, enjoy! I finished FMA:B a few days after I posted that, lol - just didn't post my thoughts as I thought no one else had seen it.
My thoughts: I fucking hated the ending. The whole suspense of the final season being an epic siege/battle against Father and the homunculi it just destroyed when everything that was sacrificed is just arbitrarily brought back - e.g Alphonse doesn't really did, and gets his body back, Roy gets a Philosopher's Stone to restore his eye sight, no main character (I guess you could count Hoenheim?) actually dies when they're versing someone who took the fucking power of God into himself. I understand it's anime, but it really ruined the whole final season and sullied my experience.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the show. I loved how they were able to actually do hard hitting episodes like the Maes Hughes funeral and the storyline with Nina and the dog being combined into one being. I loved the depth the characters had, especially characters like Scar, and the characters from each region actually felt like they were unique and had their own cultures and experiences backing up their decision making and personalities. I really loved the dynamic between Greed and Ling. I do wish more minor characters, which they seemed to be building up, had more screentime; characters like Maria Ross and Hawkeye. The latter got more development, but I feel like they could have used her more. I really enjoyed seeing the inner political workings of the Capital and Wall. I think the Armstrong siblings were some of my favourite characters; Olivier moreso than Alexander.
The soundtrack of the show was absolutely breathtaking and really added to the scenes, I've since gone back to listen to certain tracks and they're just amazing. I really hated the opening and ending though . I can't remember everything I liked or disliked about the show atm, maybe some will come back to me and I'll edit this! ^^
That makes me a bit sad but still I get where you're coming from. The ending is trying to be satisfying but still keep that whole you can't get whatever you want thing going. A lot of stuff like Ed giving up his ability to use Alchemy to get Al's body back, or Mustang using a philosophers stone is presented as being a double edged blade, but in practice it isn't entirely true. I guess Mustang is supposed to feel that the guilt of using a stone made out of Ishvallan souls means he now has to dedicate his life to restoring their country as it implies, but we don't really see any of that.
Personally I love the ending, but yeah, it's true to its roots as a shonen. It has some fun twists and interesting characters, but if follows that same formula of beating the evil thing and finishing with a satisfying ending. Depending on what you look for in the shows you watch, that style is either really satisfying, or ultimately kind of generic. There's always the 2003 version. That truly is the marmite of anime series. |
|
|
|
Post by Mecha-StannisForever on Apr 17, 2019 13:28:39 GMT
Hey guys, it's April which means the next series of that show everyone's being waiting for is coming out! |
|
