r/anime • u/AnimeMod myanimelist.net/profile/Reddit-chan • 2d ago
Daily Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion - July 20, 2026
This is a daily megathread for general chatter about anime. Have questions or need recommendations? Here to show off your merch? Want to talk about what you just watched?
All spoilers must be tagged. Use [anime name] to indicate the anime you're talking about before the spoiler tag, e.g. [Attack on Titan] This is a popular anime.
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u/NullHare 2d ago
Any Shonen reccs where the protagonist has both parents and a decent family relationship? Like Ichigo’s household but Misaki is still alive.
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u/Successful-Ear977 1d ago
Baby Steps, Blue Box and Saiki K.; Mob Psycho 100 and Shangri-La Frontier come to mind
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u/F3337 2d ago
Welcome to the newest edition of MAL genres that make no sense. Today we have:
- Mokke - A series that starts with family drama, crying, screaming, building up tension and mystery - Iyashikei
- Someday's Dreamers - has more drama in each episode than what I've seen in most dramas - Iyashikei.
- Ame to kimi to - the definition of a chill, atmospheric show with barely any drama - not an Iyashikei
- Crossing Time - A gag anime about weird and hilarious situations at a train crossing - slice of life, no comedy tag
- Nights with a Cat - 90 2min episodes about chilling with your cat in your apartment - comedy, no SoL tag.
wtf.
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u/Educational-Ant-5172 2d ago
I know I'm a dipshit for not realising this earlier, but Crunchyroll premium is a much better experience than pirating. The free trial only lasts 6 days but fuck this is so so good. I like to watch anime on my smart tv so I dont get ad block or whatever. Even if there was a browser that provided ad block, the navigation wouldn't be as easy on TV. It's just fucking beautiful and I have never experienced this. I dont have to close a tab every time I click on something. It doesn't take ages to load. Watching anime is basically a chore when you're pirating it. I might subscribe once this anime season is over so I can binge Yojou Senki when it's done. It's real fucking pricey though.
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u/Successful-Ear977 2d ago
What a coincidence I just got the free trial today too.
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u/Educational-Ant-5172 2d ago
Bro. Bro. Bro. Bro.
It's so so good. I sound like an ad for crunchyroll but I realised that the experience of watching anime itself has always fucking sucked for me. Pirate websites with 10 trillion fucking ads and they're pop up tabs that show up with every click. I legitimately forgot why people pay for these services because I still pay for Netlfix even though I dont really use it anymore. This is might be worth it though. It's pretty expensive in my country so I might not go for it.
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u/Donnie-G 1d ago
Kids these days and their woeful tech literacy. Pirate websites with trillion fucking ads? Like goddamn. Setting anime and pirating aside, your regular internet usage probably isn't very safe if you can't even deal with or avoid that.
You really shouldn't be using those pirate stream sites at all. Elaborating any more is going to just lead to post deletion so I'll leave it at that.
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u/MegaAltarianite 1d ago
I've never had an issue with Crunchyroll's site, at least when it comes to functionality. It does suck that the search doesn't work though. You can search for shows specifically with dubs, but not by language. So you can't search for "English dubs", and you'll end up with results that don't have them. But the video player had always been consistent for me. Hidive, on the other hand, can suck all of the asses in the world.
Currently, the pirate site I used rebranded, and the new version of the site is absolutely horrible. Going to a show's listing is really inconvenient, because the episode list is far down at the bottom of the page, for no reason. Another site, you cannot pick an episode from the page, you just have to click "start episode 1" and go to the first episode, then pick from the list on the right "playlist" which episode you're on. The first site I mentioned, you can't even do that. If you click on "watch now", it takes you to episode 1 and you can't move on from there. You can only get to the episode list by known that you have to scroll all the way down to find it hiding in a tiny section.
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u/Successful-Ear977 2d ago
I’m really torn because the convenience Crunchyroll offers is insanely tempting, especially on a TV, but I still have a lot of issues with them as a company and how they handle their service. The free trial has reminded me why people pay for streaming, but I’m not sure I actually want to reward Crunchyroll specifically.
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u/Educational-Ant-5172 2d ago
What did they do? Theyre a corporation so im sure they've done something wrong but what specfically?
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u/Successful-Ear977 1d ago
The biggest issue for me is how much control they’ve gained over anime in the West while still regularly treating both customers and workers like shit.
After Sony combined Funimation and Crunchyroll, Funimation was shut down. Crunchyroll still only says that “most” of its catalogue was transferred, and people completely lost access to the digital copies they’d redeemed through Funimation because Crunchyroll chose not to support them.
They’ve also kept raising subscription prices, despite the service still having basic issues with missing subtitles, dub captions and general app reliability. They then removed the entire comments and written-reviews system instead of properly moderating it, meaning paying users actually lost features over time.
Their treatment of dub actors is another major problem. When Mob Psycho 100’s lead actor offered to return non-union on the condition that Crunchyroll simply meet with SAG-AFTRA to discuss future union contracts, they refused and recast him. That understandably led to a lot of accusations that the company was hostile towards unionisation.
And more recently, an anime on the service somehow went live with blatantly AI-generated subtitles that literally contained “ChatGPT said,” which suggests nobody even properly checked them before charging people to watch it.
Definitely not gonna say Crunchyroll isn’t convenient it clearly is, and pirating on a TV can be fucking miserable. I’m just uncomfortable rewarding a company that has become the main gatekeeper for anime streaming while raising prices, removing features and repeatedly mishandling the people and content behind the service.
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u/Educational-Ant-5172 1d ago
Yikes. The ethics of the company are definitely a concern now. The convience of it compared to the misery of pirating on TV is still enticing though.
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2d ago
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
Ngl, I think I’m enjoying The Apothecary Villainess - Starting Life in Another Maiden more than Lara.
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u/LokoLoa https://myanimelist.net/profile/otomon 2d ago
I cant find any info or discussion on this anywhere... but like in [Idolm@ster Xenoglossia Episode 21] that kiss scene, is that what I think it is? Did they randomly throw in some incest out of nowhere??? or did they just make it look like that? doesnt help that very next scene she is like "I offered my body to him" but its unclear if she meant like literally or she was referring to being experimented on....
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
I can grow all the medicinal herbs
Damn, didn’t realize The Apothecary Diaries came back a season early
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
Can’t believe in this season of all things I’m watching Villainesslop and not hating it
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u/Donnie-G 2d ago
Are you referring to Inept Villainess? I read some of the manga a while back and remember liking the premise. Like at least it ain't being reincarnated into an otome-ge. I'm pondering whether to watch the anime or not... I kinda barely remember what I read of the manga anyway. [Inept Villainess]I kinda like the body swap premise. It's also kinda similar to an old Hong Kong TVB drama I watched, where a girl with an ugly birthmark on her face swaps bodies with a beauty.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
[Odd Taxi Episode 9]In this episode, we got to the point where Hiroshi finally rescues Eiji. Though in an interesting circumstance, after Hiroshi leaves Dobu behind, in a way Dobu saves Kabasawa. In an interesting point, both wanted self approval. Eiji in his dating life and for Kabasawa from his peers. They both made mistakes that put them in danger. At the very least, what this episode indicates is that both are pushing forward, even taking their losses.
[Odd Taxi Episode 9]Hiroshi is a mysterious man, but there is even more in the pot here. There is some foundation that is sending him money; the fact they aren't named is suspicious. Although the most particular and sad is that Hiroshi doesn't know his parents are dead. Or perhaps that is what he wants to believe?
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u/entelechtual 2d ago
I feel incredibly lucky to have lived to witness one generational anime imouto, who would have thought I’d get to see two in my lifetime, within a 2 year span no less.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
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u/entelechtual 2d ago
Himeko in Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her is an absolute gem, not as unhinged as Yuki but has a real charm to her. She has great banter with the MC and it’s hilarious watching the female lead get momentarily jealous of her.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
(Just caught up with today's episode)!
She's good, but I would not put her in 'Yuki tier' hah; Yuki's still alone at the top for me!
This one's pretty good but she's more of a "normal imouto" (with just a couple spicy/fun moment), while Yuki was a fucking hurricane!
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
Oh, I haven't watched Ep2 yet (I was supposed to watch it like 7 hours ago but I procrastinated a little).
I guess we'll see more of her, hope I do like her!
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u/entelechtual 2d ago
It’s fun, I was expecting this to be the trashiest of trash but all the characters are super likeable.
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u/Gamerz4505 2d ago
I'm using the android official reddit app. At the top of the main r/anime page, you can filter posts by flair but for some reason the "episode" flair is not an option to filter? Am I missing something?
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal 2d ago
It's an issue with Reddit not letting people filter on mod-only flairs, Episode is restricted so random people can't make a post using it.
All Episode threads are available on /u/AutoLovepon's profile and that's usually the recommended way to get to all of them.
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u/Rem3112 2d ago
When I found an anime that I thought would be my favorite, I watched 3 seasons and I'm about to get tired of it. However, I don't want to leave this universe behind, so I thought about stopping watching the original and making a doujinshi (not saying the original is bad, but that I just disagreed a little. I have a lot of respect for the staff). Would that make me a hypocrite/a fake otaku, or nothing serious?
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u/amd_hunt 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's been talked to death plenty of times in this sub, but still, I think it's kind of interesting how just four years ago stuff like Bocchi or LycoReco could debut to over 2k karma and steadily grow from there, while now stuff like Goodbye Lara and Sparks have yet to break 1k and are steadily dropping. Even Jaadugar looks to be dropping below 1k by next week, unless some hype moments with aura occur next episode, which.. it's not that kind of show lol. Kind of insane to see since it seems like the most well regarded anime of the current season.
I have not seen another non-default subreddit get hit so hard by the reddit blackouts and API controversy. Like, in the past year only 21 posts on this sub have broken 10k karma, which is confusingly low for a sub that according to the reddit app has over 2.5 million weekly visitors. The drop in activity is so large, that one could almost be forgiven for thinking that it's not the API controversy that's the issue, and the massive drop in activity is because of some other factor.
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u/Donnie-G 2d ago edited 2d ago
Do the numbers matter so much as long as the people here are still having fun talking to the other people here about the thing?
Something something back in mah day, bbs, animesuki, hongfire something something. Though people still would try to get more 'replies' instead of karma. Be it karma or twitter likes and retweets, these systems are designed to make you chase them but in turn that just leads to a more negative social experience.
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u/nit-picker 2d ago
This sub also uses features that only work on old.reddit (comment faces for instance), while Reddit continues to push its crappy redesign. Starting today, I had to log in to access it.
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u/zambonijesus 2d ago
While our brains are wired to respond to big numbers, karma doesn't really mean a lot in the grand scheme of things. I can't say if the quality of activity is worse now than a few years ago, I'd have to go back and read through threads, but largely quality is only loosely correlated at best to quantity. It's maybe harder to get traction for rewatches now?
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u/BatteryPoweredFriend 2d ago edited 2d ago
Aside from what the mod's post says, we've also quite literally witnessed what the consequences of allowing those low-effort posts will cause the sub to become just a few years ago.
When the fanart rules were relaxed, practically every other type of post became extinct on the sub's first few pages unless it was explicitly related to the absolute most popular of mainstream titles like JJK or Demon Slayer. Even the 5k+ karma episode discussion threads after 2hrs were often lingering around the 10th post or lower on the front page.
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u/amd_hunt 2d ago
Even the 5k+ karma episode discussion threads after 2hrs were often lingering around the 10th post or lower on the front page.
Did it actually lower the quality of discussion on those threads though? It's unfortunate that Reddit still doesn't allow you to block posts tagged with certain flairs, which defeats the purpose of a tagging system, but if it raised the amount of activity in discussions without destroying the quality of them it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
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u/BatteryPoweredFriend 1d ago edited 1d ago
I can't give you an answer to that because I have little to no interest in any of these battle shounen IPs. But from my experience, whether it's anime or not anime, the episode discussions for any popular mainstream show (eg. 1k+ comments within 12hrs) tends to always devolve into an approx 20/40/40 split - 20% actual or at least interesting comments, 40% of comments being coin toss as to whether or not they're of any interest, the final 40% being a waste of internet bandwidth. And that would've probably happened regardless of the state of the front page, especially as despite not being the literal top post, they were still "visible" enough on the front page that most users wouldn't have needed to scroll down more than a bit if at all to still see it.
However, what the "fanart" flood did severely harm were the less mainstream and niche(r) shows, the ones where the ep discussion posts tend get anywhere between 400-2k karma, but especially those at the lower end of the range.
Several of the shows I followed were in the 400-800 karma range around that time and their new episode posts only got booted all the way down to the 3rd or 4th pages within 6hrs if they were lucky.
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u/baseballlover723 2d ago
It's unfortunate that Reddit still doesn't allow you to block posts tagged with certain flairs
This is still possible via custom CSS on old reddit. It's yet another feature of old reddit that the admins refused to implemented on their new UI designs.
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u/baseballlover723 2d ago
The drop in activity is so large, that one could almost be forgiven for thinking that it's not the API controversy that's the issue, and the massive drop in activity is because of some other factor.
Reddit has shifted to being more of a standard social media, where the easiest to consume content dominates everything else. And we consider r/anime to be a long form discussion based sub, and that punishes us very heavily because we don't allow memes or needless image posts (which take 2~3x the amount of vertical space in someone's feed).
If we bought into that system, we'd surely skyrocket, but at what cost? r/anime would cease to be a place where one can have elongated discussions about anime and would simply be like many other places where all of the discussion is under 3 sentences long.
If you want to see an example of this, take a look at r/animequestions. A topic that you'd think would be extremely biased towards text. And yet, on their front page, only 4 / 25 posts are text posts (and this is quite high for them, normally its like 1 or 2). I guarantee you, that those 21 posts did not request an image, gallery or video to ask their question. They do it because embedding media makes the post have way more vertical space, and thus, way more eyeballs on it, and they outcompete text posts.
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u/D3k4s 1d ago
I personally think hybrid would probably be ok. Similar to what's done with Video clips, you could also limit users to 2 or even 1 image post per month, sometimes it's easier to make your point across with visuals. I'd also argue that depending on the type of post, images gifs etc could be allowed. A Flair based system could be employed. I understand it would be harder to moderate, but i find it to be similar to moderate as spoilers and piracy content. Not that I don't like the current format, it's just that it could land in the goldilocks zone, a balance between entertainment and In-depth content.
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u/baseballlover723 1d ago
Similar to what's done with Video clips, you could also limit users to 2 or even 1 image post per month
This is not supported by native tooling. It would require me to implement a custom module to automatically enforce.
Also I don't think limiting by user would be all that effective. I think that would just punish users who post frequently and boost first time posters (who are more likely to post rule breaking content).
sometimes it's easier to make your point across with visuals
Yes, and that's why you can still link images in a text post. For when the image tangibly benefits the post. Most of the time, the image used is irrelevant.
A Flair based system could be employed.
I was unable to get 1 new flair approved. I do not think it would be tenable to add a bunch of new flairs to the mix.
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u/Blue_Reaper99 2d ago
would cease to be a place where one can have elongated discussions about anime and would simply be like many other places where all of the discussion is under 3 sentences long
Not sure if that is true. Even on those posts you can also see long discussions. Similarly even on this sub on question related posts contains 3 sentence discussions.
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u/amd_hunt 2d ago
If we bought into that system, we'd surely skyrocket, but at what cost?
You would become r/cartoons
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
[Odd Taxi Episode 8]This episode added some intrigue on Hiroshi. It has been stated about his ability to recognize someone that he has seen before. It is difficult to think what the term could be, but Hiroshi could have a natural tendency to hyperanalyze people. Notice small details most people won't notice. Still wonder if that has also to do with his condition. Also learning that he was abandoned by his parents in grade school is sad.
[Odd Taxi Episode 8]Very interesting as the plotline collides. As both Dobu's and Yano's sides want the dash cam data. Curious if the boss's friend's daughter is Yuki. These two opposing sides have many innocents involved. The biggest one is Eiji, but obviously he only has himself to blame. As he lied and put himself in that hole. It's easy to put blame on Shiho but you get the sense she was very much pushed to do running badger games.
[Odd Taxi Episode 8]It's very cool to see how crafty Hiroshi is. He is providing evidence for the little brother to know the older brother is working with Dobu. Trying to protect Shun. Still, the fact that he didn't connect the dots about Eiji had to hurt. Curious what he can even do at this point.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
Wow, 12/12 of my favorites won their matchups in the previous round of the best girl contest!
r/anime finally has great taste!
(Great taste = Liking what I like, bad taste = Not liking what I like/Liking what I don't like. Simple as).
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u/gothxo 2d ago
okay, time for some early season rankings:
1: Goodbye, Lara. - this was my pre-season frontrunner for AOTS and so far it's delivered. just an absolute pleasure to look at visually in both art and direction. i love the two leads and their dynamic together is perfect. i'm also just a sucker for magical creature turns human, has to experience the world, and falls in love stories.
2: Draw This, Then Die! - was not on my radar before the season, but it's great so far. filled with so much charm and heart. just impossible to not watch with a big grin on my face and also manages to pull on the heartstrings so well too.
3: Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia - the distinctive art-style here is phenomenal. the historical storytelling in an area of history i'm not overly familiar with is really cool to see too. excited for it to sort of settle in a bit, but it's been great at establishing the lead as a character and her motives.
4: Polar Opposites S2 - good continuation from season 1. i loved the bright colors and artstyle of the first season and this continues that in great fashion. i love love overall cast and their dynamics too.
5: Fight Ladies - didn't really expect this to be as similar to Rock Ladies as it is, but in hindsight, that should've been kind of obvious. i'm liking this a lot though. the two leads seem quite interesting and i'm excited to see how they develop.
6: BanG Dream! Yume Mita - big fan of the super maximalist, internet-drenched aesthetic and feel of this. for better or for worse, i think this is the first anime show i've seen where a character uses an ai chatbot lmao. my main hold-up so far is that Viola is a very difficult antagonist for me to take seriously and it's really taking me out of the story at times.
7: Grow Up Show - pretty fun CGDCT. i like the cast a good amount. it's quite funny at times too. i was a big fan of the ojou-sama character talking to the mc's circus troupe while riding a horse and repeatedly calling them the "dandelion circus." looks very nice too, but i am a bit disappointed that not all of the circus stuff is fully animated. having Svetlana's big ribbon aerial act just be animated for a short while and then just a bunch of still shots is a big letdown.
8: Sparks of Tomorrow - speaking of hard to take seriously antagonists, i am decidedly not a fan of the main antagonist in this one. episode 3 was definitely the standout on account of the fact that it includes the least amount of runtime with him in it. background art in this is gorgeous and the character animation is a big standout. i'm a big fan of how evocative the imagery of the city covered in steam is. hoping for more from the story later on.
9: Inept Villainess - very fun so far! didn't come in with many expectations, but i like the setup and love the lead here. looks very good too.
10: Clevatess S2 - the academy setting hasn't been the most exciting so far, but i imagine there will be more to it as the story goes on. shout out my goat Kurosawa Tomoyo.
11: Love You Till Your Dying Day - this one is an interesting one because it's adapted from one of the few big yuri mangas that i've never really been able to get into. and i've tried numerous times. so i'm really just waiting to get to the point where i'm not really familiar with the story to see if it'll impress me.
very strong season so far! none of these are close to getting dropped at this point. hoping it stays strong
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u/IXajll https://myanimelist.net/profile/ixajii 2d ago
I kinda like Love Unseen, all things considered, but ML is really testing my patience. Dude is dim as fuck and I lost count of the number of times he made me go “no shit, Sherlock” over these 3 episodes.
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u/Rotorscope https://anilist.co/user/Rotorscope 2d ago
What I like about the show is that it lives up to its name because it will remain unseen by me.
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
Since it came up yesterday, and I’ve been thinking about it more, I might as well ask: what makes something “the best year of anime ever”?
I feel like definitions often vary and depending on which school of thought you subscribe to will lead you to a wildly different list. Is it a measure solely of how many good anime come out by your account or is there also a historical significance aspect to it, a sense that not only were the anime good, but that said shows also shaped the medium in their image. Does a year have to be significantly better than the years around it to be in contention?
To take maybe the ultimate example, 1979 obviously has less anime overall than anything in the last 20 years, but what it does have were massively medium changing works like Anne of Green Gables, Rose of Versailles, Castle of Cagliostro, the “original” Doraemon (technically the second one, but the one that everyone knows), and goddamn Mobile Suit Gundam. By all accounts, not only does it dwarf everything around it in terms of quality, but it also had massive impacts on the medium at large, the effects of which are still felt to this date. So does that make it a contender for the best year of anime ever or does its limited amount of total entries make it fall short?
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u/collapsedblock6 myanimelist.net/profile/collapsedblock 2d ago
Just the amount of shows that I myself think are great, irrelevant of their impact.
This is a good season because I'm enjoying plenty of shows on the 7-8 range (a lot of them cute girls and romcoms). But Jaadugar and Lara is what pushes it to (probable) all-timer for me. How all these shows will be remembered isn't important personally.
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u/Gamerunglued myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued 2d ago
In my opinion, quantity of quality. Which year has the highest number of worthwhile series. Perhaps it's better worded as "which one contributes most positively to anime's canon" or something vaguely pretentious like that. The negatives are swiftly ignored, if a year is dominated by bad series then it's unlikely to have a greater amount of good ones anyway. I do think historical impact is to be taken into account.
But here's the thing: going by just sheer numbers is actually fine. You listed 5 all-timers from 1979. How many years in anime history, including modern day, have that many top tier series and films? Most years I don't even make it passed two 9/10 series, so for a year to have five series in that are among the most excellent and noteworthy in all of the medium is insane, and would still be in the 2020s. That's why I'm ok with biasing it towards the years with the most anime overall; because defining it as "the years that contribute the most positively to anime overall" doesn't really discount the past too much; by my estimation 1979 is one of the best years in anime history. 2015 may have had more series, maybe even more "pretty good" series, but much less heavily worthwhile stuff (imo one of the weaker years of the 2010s, which is why I'm using it as the example). Obviously this is all incredibly subjective though, there's no way to define which series are the most positive contributions.
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u/North514 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's opinionated, to me, I think the best year for a medium, would have the most amount of "varied" hits, where almost every kind of fan, could get really excited for that year.
Like there are years, such as 1988 that I think are awesome, and one of the best years of the medium, however, if you don't care about sci fi/mecha, it's impact is a bit more lost.
2006, often, comes up, over and over again, as one of the best years because that year was incredibly varied, with tons of great shows or at least "influential shows" (I may hate Familiar Zero but it's important). Even if not a single series, from that year, would be in a personal top ten list, I wouldn't challenge people claiming it is one of the best years, largely due to that fact. It's not about quantity but, this ideal, of everyone, getting satisfied in their own way, that to me, indicates an amazing year. Otherwise it just an amazing year for that genre or demographic, versus a win for the medium as a whole.
As for quantity, %, cultural impact and actual critical acclaim matters more to me, in terms of determining a great year. That said, I don't mind the numerous amount of solid shows we are getting. Quantity is a factor, just not the main factor, which is why I would take 88 over many modern years, that probably have more numerous good entries.
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u/zambonijesus 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's always going to be judged by volume, but as time passes you wear down the number of anime that continue to stand out in memory to the point that I don't think that 1979 and 2026 can even be compared to each other in any meaningful way.
I don't really see why the surrounding years have any relevance.
Edit: Also series muddy up the water because like calling Gintama, for example, a 2006 anime is kind of silly considering how much longer it went after that.
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
I don't really see why the surrounding years have any relevance
Well if a year, for example, sees a sudden jump in quality over its peers, is that more relevant than if the average was hovering around that value for a while and managed to skim over.
Like to take an example out of my own data set, I think 2004 is maybe about on par, if not below, even the more middling years of the 2010s for me in terms of my top scores, but it being the first year that I gave at least 10 shows an 8 or higher (I kinda only really look at my Top 10) when the years around it tended to have 7/10 be the threshold makes it stand out more in the rankings than some of those years in the 2010s that may even have been down from the higher years that came before them.
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u/Jusenkyo_5 2d ago
1979 is 100% in the running for best year of all time.
My personal philosophy would be to look for a larger number of 9/10+ anime than for a large number of 6/10-8/10 anime. The number of anime that's just "good" is so large that none of us are likely to ever run out of it, but I think there are several years that failed to have anything amazing to look forward to.
I would personally put 1979, 1995, 1998, 2007, 2011, and 2016 in the running. By sheer number of good anime I think you could pick 2006, but I'm not particularly excited about a lot of the notable titles from that year.
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 2d ago
For me, it would depend entirely on how many anime I enjoyed came out during that year. It's pretty rare that I find new series I'd rate 9/10 or 10/10 these days, so if one year happened to have a bunch of those, I'd probably say it's the best year of anime in a long time. Historical significance and stuff like that wouldn't be a factor, and most years surrounding it end up being about equal in my opinion.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
"The Forsaken Saintess and her Foodie Roadtrip in Another World" really makes for a comfy watch. Not a show I would be pressed to stay on top of, but it hits good vibes. Plus, the show so far sticks to what it wants to be.
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
I think it is filling the spot occupied by last season's Hungry Maid. Totally empty calories, but reasonably fluffy and fun.
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u/Worrysome_dude https://anilist.co/user/Ralphitto 2d ago
I have issues choosing my last anime that i will follow this season. Can someone help me choose? THe remaining ones would be: The Cat and the Dragon, the World is Dancing, Draw This, Then Die! and Though I Am an Inept Villainess. Tbh, I'm way past my prime in seasonal watching; when I sometimes watched up to 20 episodes a week, now I'm already struggling at 11... So every recommendation is welcome. Could my Anilist be of any help? Thanks in advance.
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u/Psyduckisnotaduck 2d ago
Draw this then Die has upside to be my Anime of the season, so, that. Inept Villainess is promising but DttD started strong as hell out of the gate, and episode 3 was peak.
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u/thehaxorman https://anilist.co/user/detritus 2d ago
I feel like Inept Villainess is the "safe" pick. Depending on your taste Draw This, Then Die! could be better. Personally I'm still not totally sold on The World is Dancing.
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
World is Dancing is sort of like Sparks for me -- indeniably beautiful but without characters that capture my imagination and/or affection. I have much more fun watching Kaikigumi (which is "objectively" on a far lower level).
Voting for Draw It as being a bit ahead of Inept Villainess-- but I love both
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u/thehaxorman https://anilist.co/user/detritus 2d ago
We have basically the same opinion on sparks. (I dropped it after two eps.) World is Dancing might have been a drop if it was airing on a day with some real competition. I'm humouring the idea of checking out Kaikigumi purely because I really like the ED. (both the song and the visuals are so cute!) But historically I have not been a fan of slapstick humour so I'm not getting my hopes up.
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
Not a fan of slapstick humor overall -- but Mechako is a winning enough character to keep me watching.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
Tough to pick one between TWiD and Draw This, Then Die. I have both as must-watch for this season.
I slightly prefer Draw This, Then Die, but they are fantastically well written shows so far.
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u/Worrysome_dude https://anilist.co/user/Ralphitto 2d ago
There was technically also Black Torch, Rich Girl Caretaker and Iron Wok Jan! in the list but I heard more mixed feeling about them. There's too much to watch every season...
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u/zambonijesus 2d ago
My personal ranking out of those would be:
- Draw This, Then Die
- The World is Dancing
- Though I Am an Inept Villainess
- Not watching
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u/Muted-Conference2900 https://anilist.co/user/WinterZcoming 2d ago
TIL, Fujoshi is a term used to describe the fandom of Mt. Fuji and not the other thing.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
Check out the remaining shows of the season, expecting to drop them all
First one is a keep
THAT'S NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!
Smoking behind the supermarket is pretty decent so far! (only 1 episode in, haven't watched #2 yet)
And if you're wondering why I was expecting to drop it (given it may seem like my kind of show), I had quite a few concerns about it (some of which still remain);
[Smoking behind supermarket]The iyashikei tag was probably the biggest one, I don't think I ever enjoyed a single show with this tag. I was also worried that the guy NOT figuring it out would end up being annoying... But so far it's not so bad.
As for the concerns that remain: [Smoking behind supermarket]Well, there's the worry that he WILL eventually get on my nerve if he hasn't figured it out by episode 250, but we'll see how it goes! But my main ones are... First, I don't particularly care about Cashier Girl. I LOVE smoking girl, but the thing is... He loves Cashier Girl. If we assume her true personality is Smoking Girl, then what happens with him? Is he gonna be in love with a facade? (one that I think is a bit boring, I mean she's 'generic customer service: The character'. Our boy fell for her because she smiled at him?). And the other concern I have is... Well, if you know me, I ABHOR love triangles. Now, for an obvious reason, this isn't a love triangle, but... It kinda feels like it is? And think of this from her perspective; If he starts spending more and more time with Smoking Girl, then doesn't he seem like someone who'll just go after anyone, like "She smiled at me, I love her!" "We smoked a few cigarettes together, I love her!". As someone who MUCH prefers Smoking Girl, I'd kinda want him to end with her, but if he does, then what are we making of his first contact with her, him seeing her (Cashier Girl) as his pick me up, etc..?
So yeah, I do have some concerns still, it's not a LOCK yet, but it's promising!
(To be fair, it was probably the best show on my "OTHER" list. The rest are mostly all the generic fantasy shit).
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
I think that he has strong feelings of (at least) friendship for both Yamada and Tayama. Which actually might block him from pursuing either (along with his self-abnegating personality). I don't care, I love all three characters (and also the store manager once she appears).
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u/Komarist https://myanimelist.net/profile/RRSTRRST 2d ago
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
One thing I love about Cypic production is the visual storytelling element they add. They did this well with Hikaru and Apocalypse Hotel. Truly outstanding work.
The World is Dancing really showcases this well. Similar thing that I praised Sayonara Lara yesterday.
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u/Blue_Reaper99 2d ago
One thing I love about Cypic production is the visual storytelling element they add
Not much to do with Cypic. It's just director's and anime staff ideas on how to adapt to these stories.
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u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker 2d ago
Makes me wonder what will they do with Kagurabachi
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u/Looking_Light33 2d ago edited 2d ago
So, I'm still watching the Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten. I watched episode 5 yesterday and I'm liking the show so far. I think Amane and Mahiru are a cute couple and I like the secondary characters as well. The only complaint I have is that the series can feel a little diabetes inducing at times but overall I dig it.
Besides that show, I started rewatching Kanon 2006 yesterday night. It's been years since I watched this show. The last time I finished it was way back in high school. I finished watching episode 2 an hour ago and I'm enjoying my time with it. The English dub is pretty good and I like Yuichi as a character. The main heroines are also quite charming.
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u/Priapos93 2d ago
Shoujo anime has had a lot of crossover success lately. Inept Villainess and Ogre's Bride have both caught my attention. I have a little trouble suspending disbelief for the premise of the world of Ogre's Bride. I found accepting the computer generated scenes in Inept Villainess easy, and the art team delivers a lush visual feast with every new setting. Very different from Apothecary Diaries in tone but fulfills the same tastes for me.
I've been rewatching The Twelve Kingdoms. NHK spared no expense on the production, and it shows. However, it exposes the inevitable flaws of cel animation, misalignment or tone mismatch. Watching that peak project of its time next to the current season has shown that artistic skill and passion shines through in the artwork whatever the medium
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
I feel like my AOTS list this season has been the most schizo it’s ever been as I feel like every other day the Top 4 is shifting around.
Jaadugar has rather cleanly taken the top spot (for now), but GitS, SoT, and TWiD keep shifting and will continue to do so all season until we reach the final stretch. SoT might clean up 2nd place, but that’s relying on it picking up in its third arc to claim the spot so who knows.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
Got to watching Chainsmoker Cat episode 3. Each episode leans harder and harder into toilet humor than it has with dark comedy post-episode 1. Obviously, direction and production values are really good. It gives me the feeling that the novelty is wearing off for it.
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u/OppositeStrike1754 2d ago
They are pretty much throwing shit at wall to see if it sticks. While also including edgy stuff and corny stuff
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
Yeah, that is how it feels like these past two episodes. I felt the first episode did a good job with satire in portraying how bad one can get with an addiction.
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u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta 2d ago
Agreed. I was hoping they'd go in the satire/dark comedy direction because that's much more interesting and also my threshold for toilet humour is low. Not sure how much longer I'll keep watching if things stay the same.
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
To answer the question from yesterday, Geoff Thew made the Orb x Jaadugar comparison, and while I doubt he was the first, he is maybe the most prominent (until Gigguk inevitably does the same)
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
For some reason I utterly loved Jaadugar from the start, and dropped Orb after 3 (irrevocably). So, I don't see the two shows as remotely similar ,-- other than both having "dark" hisorical stories (or pseudo -historical in the case of Orb).
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
They’re not really anywhere close to one another
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u/RawPorridge 2d ago
Finished Journal with Witch/Ikoku Nikki. I've watched this kind of 'sudden parenting' show, but not with this exact kind of combination (aunt + niece) and personality types. I like how majority of the characters are social nonconformists in variety of ways, great character work and visual storytelling as a whole (s/o to this sub's episode threads for pointing out stuff I wouldn't catch by myself). Ending was relatively abrupt and I would've liked more stuff being adapted, but so far it's my favorite of this year's shows.
So many moments where I had to pause, to let certain scenes ruminate more while reflecting on my own circumstances. Makio's family situation is very relatable to me; I also used to perceive my older sister as a condescending asshole, and we had a very distant relationship until recently when I started to understand her more (and hopefully vice-versa). I sure am glad I've gotten to fix that before it's too late.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
[Iron Wok Jan! Episode 3]I actually would say it's the best episode since we got to see Jan dealing with failure. I like that it's a more simple failure on his part. Really shows how tough he is on himself. Grandfather was not only abusive, but also a deranged psycho. I bet Jan hasn't fully come to terms with that. I wonder if the Gobanchou family can show him kindness that he never had with this Gramps.
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u/Tomorrow_Big 2d ago
Goodbye, Lara isn't doing it for me. I wish I knew why, because usually I can tell what isn't working, but by all accounts the show should work for me. Enjoyable cast, interesting story, fantastic presentation, tightly paced... and yet I can't connect the dots as to why it isn't working. Not to such a degree where I'd consider dropping it though, so maybe it'll click at some point.
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u/PinkGlitterLady4 1d ago
Same here, and I'm so disappointed that I'm feeling that way because I was so excited about it ever since I saw the concept trailer over a year ago
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u/elsmirks 2d ago
Episode progress of shows I've been watching:
Macross 7: Episode 21 - Now I'm firmly in what I would call the start of the second arc, [M7]Syvil has breathed life into the repetitiveness of the show in the first 16-17 episodes as the Military has been separated, and the City left to defend itself. Cast dynamics have gotten more interesting and they toned down "who gets to be the annoying one" shared by Basara, Mylene, and Gamlin in their own respective ways; they are getting more fleshed out and developing their own nuances and the cast friction isn't as grating anymore. Syvil's mind control hijinks on Rex and Akiko are throwing a wrench into the cast, putting Basara in new situations to challenge him, Mylene slowly coming to terms with her feelings towards Basara and Gamlin, with the latter slowly gaining favor. Milia is now back in the frontlines in a balancing act as mayor vs ace pilot in an already depleted defense force waiting for her husband to return. Exsedol's inner thoughts have mentioned the term Protodevlin.
Aura Battler Dunbine: Episode 41, I feel that the show is suffering from something that Gundam SEED had, albeit in a different way. [Aura Battler Dunbine]The increasing scale and depravity of the conflict has swallowed the cast, not giving enough room for cast dynamics and drama to shine - which Show was exceptional at. The difference between SEED and Dunbine is that in SEED, the set piece fights got rather stale, particularly with the Biological CPUs but the character drama remained strong outside the cockpit. Dunbine doesn't suffer from recycled footage and repetitiveness, but is failing to utilize the ensemble cast, in favor of IMO underwhelming geopolitics, romanticism/criticism of nobility (which somehow tackle nuance in a former Russian noble turned Soviet pilot being the most noteworthy), and consecutive large-scale battles that don't give breathing room. The extended time on Upper Earth that once made it a great setting during the initial visit has already passed since the cultural barriers aren't at the heart. Enemies with death flags gain the obvious aura power boost in a blaze of glory, but unless you're Jeril, the emotional impact remains limited. The bright points in current episodes have been Ciela and Elle getting battleworn and stepping up, and Shot Weapon planning on exploiting Drake and Bischott. Dunbine IMO is at its best when Show's versatility and drawing on the character foils set up is at the forefront.
Armored Trooper Votoms: Episode 26 - Halfway into the TV series episode count, and it looks like they are [Votoms TV]reaching the climax to the Kummen Civil War. The Veela (and Borough) are getting overpowered by Rochina's arm of the Gilgamesh Army, despite Ypsilon's newfound overspecced AT making short work of a lot of enemies. Kanjelman's death lays out the folly of his traditionalist mindset, giving Pol Potaria his blessing on his last moments.. One of the best recent episode among the shows I've watched.
Patlabor TV: Episode 41 - The police hi-jinks episodes have been nice to watch (some episode plots I feel wouldn't be out of place in something like Nadesico or Neo Ranga) after a break and building up towards an [Patlabor TV]eventual and climactic rematch against the Griffon. The successor to the Ingram is reaching the final phase, and the Babylon Project is once again given focus. My favorite show of the four.
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u/cosmiczar https://anilist.co/user/Xavier 2d ago
My favorite show of the four.
Good take! It really is the best one (haven't watched Macross 7 yet but I can't see me liking it more than Patlabor)
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
It's kinda crazy that our concept of the modern witch is almost entirely derived from The Wizard of Oz. Like witchcraft has older roots, and the pointed-hat, cloak, and broomstick did have roots in European folklore, but it wasn't until The Wizard of Oz that it all kinda came together. That's wild.
Anyway, I've got my schizo take for the day.
I want more Halloween fantasy. Like we've got all these witch anime, but they're really more Harry Potter, mage-style shows than like a good, hearty witch series. Shit like Chocolat Cadabra, Little Witch Academia, Sugar Sugar Rune, Tweeny Witches, Soul Eater, all that good stuff. If your witches are men or not wearing pointy black hats, I am highly suspect. I'll even give a pass to a Mahoutsukai Precure (which is tbh 90% a magical girl show) and Magical DoReMi (not wearing black, highly suspect) if I'm desperate enough.
Like I feel we tend to use "witch" to really just mean "female mage", but I think "witch fantasy" is sort of a distinct style and aesthetic that's distinct from the more "knights and magic" style stories that your typical fantasy show apes from. Champignon Witch almost comes close if Champignon Witch also wasn't really bad, but that vibe was the only reason I even stuck* with the show.
Whatever you want to call it or however you want to attribute its origins, I want more of that please.
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
I found long-ago Tweeny Witches fascinating and enjoyable, if a bit rough (and uneven at times). However, the later OVAs are pretty trivial and inessential (not an extension if the main story).
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
However, the later OVAs are pretty trivial and inessential
Many such cases
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u/merurunrun 2d ago
Majimajo Rurumo has a really big hat.
Kuromajo-san ga Tooru is good too, although I don't think it has any pointy hats at all.
There's Mahoutsukai Tai (Magic User's Club), though I'm not sure it's really worth recommending.
Tokimeki Tonight is good Halloween Fantasy, but I'm pretty sure it's downright witchless.
I can think of a few manga that fit the bill really well too, but most of them are done and so I doubt they'll ever be getting animated adaptations.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
I want more Halloween fantasy.
You can be schizoer than that.
I think I'd like that too. That, and much else. Spooky witches, Grimdark witches...
I feel like the longer you watch anime, the more you realize that (much like the west) soon as something 'hits', they start printing it like crazy.
Isekai trend, kicked from party trend, broken betrothal trend, fake villainess trend... And now the 'cute witch' trend?
I'd rather they give us - may the Lord forgive me for using that word - deconstructions of all these genres.
(Or without going that far, just something a little different.. Most of the time it feels like the main difference between those is production value/quality... )
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
You can be schizoer than that
This was the second draft lol. Draft one was a lot more schizoier, but I realized most could be condensed by just calling it “Halloween fantasy”.
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u/Priapos93 2d ago
XXXHolic shows a different take on the Witch. Can or should we set aside the witches in Madoka?
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
I’m not counting the Madoka witches, those are kinda a different breed altogether.
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u/actuallyrndthoughts https://myanimelist.net/profile/NaNiNuNeNo 2d ago
Surely you must be eyeing the Witch on the Holy Night coming out this November, to fullfil your witchy needs
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
[Googles it]
[No pointy hats]
No.
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u/actuallyrndthoughts https://myanimelist.net/profile/NaNiNuNeNo 2d ago
Well, the witches in it do have European folklore roots, at the very least
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u/sysasysa 2d ago
I have never seen/watched any Ghost in the Shell. Is the new adaptation good so far or should I go with an older one?
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u/North514 2d ago
It's fine for newcomers. Really it's up to you, the original manga, which is what this new adaption is adapting more accurately is a bit more silly, expressive whereas the original film is very contemplative and serious. SAC brings a bit more of the expressive Major/comedy over however, it's still more like the 95 film.
What appeals to your more there? They both tackle great cyberpunk topics, it's just how that is expressed is different.
There is no best, especially since this is how most JP audiences, first encountered GITS. If you want to watch the new series just do that.
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u/OppositeStrike1754 2d ago
I think best introduction to Ghost In The Shell is watching 98 movie then watching both seasons of Stand Alone Complex. Then new season would be finished and you can watch it too.
I've watched almost every anime adaptation they made so I'm def be watching new anime too because I want to see how Scince Saru adapted it
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
I would say they all are good. For beginners, I would recommend Stand Alone Complex first if I had to because I feel it's the best for new watchers.
It would make sense when you get to watching the movies and the Science Saru easier, I would say.
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal 2d ago
From my understanding they all mostly do something different, so even if the new adaptation is good (not watching it myself so can't judge) the older ones are still worth watching in their own right.
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u/Galaxy40k 2d ago
It seems like there's been a lot of "villainess anime" these past couple years (?), so I wanna check one out. Any recommendations? I tend not to like shows with constant drama and seriousness, but that doesn't mean any stakes at all is bad. Like I love Apothecary Diaries and Frieren for example, but I'm not into Attack on Titan.
I did see May I Ask for One Final Thing? which was fun, but idk if that was representative of this genre or not.
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u/collapsedblock6 myanimelist.net/profile/collapsedblock 2d ago
Observation Log
Tearmoon Empire
Wataoshi
Villainess lv 99
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u/Komarist https://myanimelist.net/profile/RRSTRRST 2d ago
idk if this matters to you. Only two villainess anime have gotten more than 12-13 episodes (and one of those chose to cliffhanger). If you want something that feels like a complete story, Level 99 Villainess (production is meh), Endo and Kobayashi Live!, or Observation Log. Level 99's girl is very likable if you can look beyond the terrible CGI monsters.
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u/Ok-Cod5254 2d ago
Observation Log from last season was a nice one that has a complete story in one season.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
That one isn't even really a villainess anime tbh. Much like the one from this season that literally has the word in the title. Anyway, watch Observation Log.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii 2d ago
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
Well, that's a completely different argument that I don't agree with but also don't really care to debate. I'm talking about the genre, not the meaning of the word in English.
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u/cppn02 2d ago
That one isn't even really a villainess anime tbh.
It literally starts with the standard villainess rejection scene.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
I mean, I guess, but that doesn't really rebut what I said. There's more to the genre than "female MC is viewed negatively by society".
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u/ComfortablyRotten https://anilist.co/user/Leuwtian 2d ago
Not the biggest fan of the genre but if I had to recommend some:
- My Next Life as a Villainess, a reverse harem comedy that's also afaik the first proper villainess anime
- I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss, the most straightforward one on this list and afaik the first villainess anime to have the broken engagement setup you saw in One Final Thing
- I'm in Love with the Villainess, yuri take on the genre
- From Bureaucrat to Villainess, more meta take on the genre, pretty fun and wholesome
- Though I Am an Inept Villainess, set in a unique Chinese court setting as opposed to the traditional Medieval European fantasy, still ongoing but shaping up to be one of the best ones
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u/Galaxy40k 2d ago
Thanks for the list! Do any of these have an MC with a little bit of bite to them? I watched the first episode of the Inept Villainess because I liked Apothecary Diaries, but I was turned off by the MC just being a regular fluffball. I did like Scarlett in May I Ask for example, although I understand that's only like tangentially in the villainess subgenre
And based on reading the MAL descriptions for these: Is that the norm for this genre? I always assumed "villainess anime" had like "female MC but with attitude which is why she's cast in the role of traditional love interest villain." But a lot of these seem like "nice girl is reincarnated as evil person and so needs to be Super Nice to get people to believe she's not evil." Or something
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u/ComfortablyRotten https://anilist.co/user/Leuwtian 2d ago
Is that the norm for this genre?
Yeah, one of the common criticisms of the genre (that I personally share, even if it's not a complete dealbreaker to me) is that the "villainess" is rarely ever actually villainous. The term's actual meaning is closer to "love rival" than "female villain," and the genre's main appeal is the MC saving themselves from what they feel is an unjust fate so they need some degree of sympathy.
Aileen from I'm Taming the Final Boss is the one with the most bite fwir but even she was relatively tame compared to Scarlett. If that's what you're looking for though, 7th Time Loop and the currently airing A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even might be worth checking out. I'm not huge on them (hence why I skipped on mentioning them) but the former was well-received and the latter does show some promise, and in both cases the MC's more active role is the main draw
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u/Galaxy40k 2d ago
Right immediately circling back to say Livid Lady is exactly what I was hoping for. Definitely gonna try some of the others too,, but I really enjoyed the first two episodes there and am gonna add that to my weekly watch. Thanks!
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u/Galaxy40k 2d ago
Thanks for all the info. I'll probably try a bunch of first episodes of your + others recommendations and see if I vibe with anything
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u/Wanderingjoke https://myanimelist.net/profile/WanderingJoke 2d ago
I did like Scarlett
The closest MC to Scarlet is probably Mimi, though she is more "fluffy".
But a lot of these seem like "nice girl is reincarnated as evil person and so needs to be Super Nice to get people to believe she's not evil."
It's usually "person is reincarnated as the villian in an otome game and wishes to avoid their fate" (usually death or exile). There is one where the MC desires to be "evil", but it's mostly just doing want she wants despite social conventions. (Also, she's bad at being evil).
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u/Priapos93 2d ago
I'm current on 1, 3, and 5 on your list and concur. I'll take the other two as recommendations.
Seventh Time Loop fits in here, imo
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u/Wanderingjoke https://myanimelist.net/profile/WanderingJoke 2d ago
Start with Bakarina. This is pretty much the one that started the anime trend.
I'm also very partial to Villainess Level 99. One of my favorite protagonists in anime.
Tearmoon Empire for the "do-over". (There's also 7th Loop, which is good, but doesn't feel as "villianess" to me.)
Once you've finished those, you'll probably be set for watching the more meta Dark History and Bureaucrat to Villianess.
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u/mekerpan 2d ago
I have found most villainess (and villainess--adjacent) shows to each have their own charms (though a few have been insipid snoozers). It is a more reliable show type for me than isekai and +even more) battle shounen.
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd 2d ago edited 2d ago
2 episodes in on every show I planned on watching (at least initially), so here's the thing:
AOTS Leaders:
- Jaadugar - Feels like the real story is about to start. Not perfect, but really good so far.
- Polar Opposites S2 - Could watch these friends forever.
- Smoking behind the Supermarket - Love the two leads, and that's all this show needs.
Good Stuff:
- Inept Villainess - Actually pretty solid so far. Much more palace intrigue than villainess.
- Kaiju Girl - Goofy, cute, fun.
- Sayonara Lara - Best looking show of the season. Well paced and engaging.
Mixed Opinions:
- GGWP - Fun sometimes, boring others.
- Red River - Enough here to keep watching, but nothing too notable yet.
- Sparks of Tomorrow - Gorgeous, energetic, and ultimately not that interesting.
Drop Watch:
- I Want to Love You Until Your Dying Day - Too silly to be as serious as it is. Still hate Mimi.
Dropped - Grow Up Show
Starting Soon - Draw This, Then Die
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
I had no interest in watching Dying Day because I read the manga, and it really didn't seem I would enjoy having read it lately. Could you elaborate on what you mean by silly? I am curious.
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u/Ham_PhD https://myanimelist.net/profile/ham_phd 2d ago
[Dying Day]I find the concept of healing/recovery through kissing to be quite silly. Like the main girl getting her arm cut off in that attack was very visceral and serious, but she grew it back because Mimi could kiss enough energy into her or whatever. I just couldn't take that as seriously as the show wants me to.
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u/judo_panda 2d ago
Is Goodbye, Lara! a boxing anime? My feed has blown up this morning with a boxing clip from the latest episode I believe.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
It's more so a mermaid anime where the deuteragonist is a boxer, at least as a hobby at school.
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u/Capable-Towel-6302 2d ago
We don't know yet how much boxing will be there, but it seems to be an important part of the plot that the second main character is a boxer.
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal 2d ago
First episode impressions, (part 1) part 2:
The Duke's Son Claims He Won't Love Me Yet Showers Me with Adoration — That's a lot of exposition to establish Elsa's home life at the start that didn't need verbalized and could have been worked in more naturally later. A lot of the scenes feel like minimum viable product otome story beats rather than invoking a lot of creativity in its writing and direction but it's still my kind of otome bullshit so I'm not dropping it.
Oh Boy, Was I Wrong About Her — I should have kept track of how many series start with "childhood friend that male lead thought was another boy turns out to be a girl" because that's the jumping off point of this one. Nothing stellar but nice to see that they actually pick up as friends again rather than being more of an "Oh no, how do I interact with girls?" situation that I see all too often.
Love Unseen Beneath the Clear Night Sky — Well the initial impression is similar to a couple of shows I liked from the past couple of years with its female lead but I'm curious how it'll compare, also not sure about Hayamin on this one.
The Forsaken Saintess and her Foodie Roadtrip in Another World — Time to finally watch Camper Cooking in Another World.
Sayonara Lara — Starts as a speedrun of The Little Mermaid but I'm curious to see where it goes from here. More importantly it has a classic look to it which I love, thank you Kinema Citrus.
Rich Girl Caretaker: I'm Secretly the Caregiver of the Most Popular Girl in This Rich Kid School — Shomin Sample without the ecchi parts? Not expecting much but could certainly be worse. Toward the end of the OP I recognized it's the same artist behind the Hamefura OPs, kinda fun. Also hi Koyasu, are you gonna have more than a bit part in this?
The Oblivious Saint Can't Contain Her Power — Otome bullshit part 2, go! A bit of a twist compared to how that usually goes but not by much.
Saved by the Ice Cold Prince's Embrace — Is it only the series I'm interested in that get the light anime treatment?
Halfway through everything I had on my PTW for the season, though there are several I'm not going to pick up while they're airing and might remove entirely.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
I know that it's a bit more common in manga, etc, but has there been any other anime that's done the "thought his childhood friend was a boy" thing besides Tomo-chan? And that's well into the backstory anyway.
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal 2d ago
That's why I wish I had kept track, it feels like I've seen it a number of times but I can't immediately recall specific instances off the top of my head and I'm too tired to dig through my list for examples.
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u/Vindex101 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vindex101 2d ago
I think its more a manga trend that hasnt really made it that much into anime yet. I had the same thought a while back, got surprised by how i can't really recall any anime that did the same premise. Even in Tomo-chan, Jun has no mistaken gender moment about Tomo, he just really sees her as a guy pal instead of outright not seeing her being a girl
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u/_Ridley https://myanimelist.net/profile/_Ridley_ 2d ago
I don't see The Ogre's Bride on either list. Don't tell me you're skipping such delectable wish-fulfillment.
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u/Durinthal https://anilist.co/user/Durinthal 2d ago
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u/VritraReiRei 2d ago
Hi, I'm looking for an anime that gives me the same feeling as episode 7 of Silent Witch or the first 6 episodes of Kimi ni Todoke i.e. the protagonist is bullied in some way and they and/or someone has to defend them. Bonus points if the character has low self esteem like Monica and Sawako or is constantly apologizing because they think "everything is their fault."
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
There are some aspects of this in The Ramparts of Ice, although it's sporadic and mostly in the backstory.
It's more "abuse" than "bullying", but My Happy Marriage S1 definitely has quite a bit like this.
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u/VritraReiRei 2d ago
I asked ChatGPT my exact question and My Happy Marriage was the first recommendation. Will definitely give it a try, thank you!
And I've seen Ramparts of Ice, it's definitely great but God, the first season ended in a cliffhanger with so many loose ends!
[Also while the MC was bullied] it turns out that wasn't the full story as she used her own circumstances to get revenge on her bully, showing us our MC isn't the most innocent person in all of this.
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u/thehaxorman https://anilist.co/user/detritus 2d ago
Betrothed to My Sister's Ex
I think it fits the vibe? FMC has very low self esteem for sure. and once she gets betrothed she obtains quite a few staunch defenders.
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u/VritraReiRei 2d ago
Oh this sounds interesting, especially considering all the Villainess stories I've seen where the FMC is abandoned by her friends and family.
May fit right in, considering My Happy Marriage seems to fit as well and it's recommended alongside it according to MAL. Will definitely check it out along with the related recommendations from the site. Tyvm!
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u/thehaxorman https://anilist.co/user/detritus 2d ago
My Happy Marriage is probably an even better match for what you want but the more I watched of that the less I liked it so I'm hesitant to personally recommend it. S1 was pretty good though.
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
Coming back to it, am I allowed to say that Goodbye Lara almost talks too much?
Like there’s this one line in Ep. 3 that I’m still thinking about, and not for the right reasons. At the start of the episode [minor Goodbye Lara]in the scene under the bridge when we’re being introduced to the rival, I remember thinking “this girl looks like a rival, the way they’re looking at one another that means one is probably undefeated” and then she literally just blurts out “I’m so and so, undefeated in official match champion of this area”.
Why the actual fuck would she do that? Like from a writing perspective, it’s obviously for the audience, but why is she [minor Goodbye Lara]saying it to a character to already knows exactly who she is? It doesn’t even come off like bragging as much as an introduction. Fucking hell man this line sent me.
The rest of the episode was better, but still left me with this feeling that it’s over expositing everything. I guess I’ll see how the rest plays out.
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u/ItsTheDuran https://anilist.co/user/ItsTheDuran 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had to go check the dub because seeing people agree with this was driving me kinda crazy. In the subs [Lara] Mari just says her rival's name (it's not an explicit introduction to the viewer, like in the dub), and then Nagahama brings up Mari's accomplishments, sarcastically.
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u/Korkez11 2d ago
I remember Hello Future Me called out Shyamalan's The Last Airbender for overusing "As you know..." phrase. Ironically, in one particular scene of this movie "As you know..." was justified because in that scene Zhao was mocking Zuko in his face with this line.
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u/IXajll https://myanimelist.net/profile/ixajii 2d ago
That’s a pretty common writing criticism, not for Lara but just in general, that it’s plainly bad writing when characters are saying things they have no reason to say out loud and is instead only done as a lazy way to convey certain information to the viewer, rather than to another character. And technically (tbh I don’t even remember that particular line so I’m taking your word for it) that sounds like a valid complaint in line with that criticism, but personally speaking I rarely even mind such instances. It’d be better without for sure, but at the end of the day it’s whatever for me, as long as it’s not too frequent.
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
Yeah fair. Not a terrible concern or unique to the story, but I feel like when Lara’s production is so tight I almost want to hold it to that higher standard on the writing front.
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u/wloff 2d ago
I'm really enjoying Sparks of Tomorrow, but I'm half tempted to wait up on it so I can binge it all in one go later. It's written kind of like a long movie script, and both the story and the characters are only slowly coming properly alive; I don't know if watching it bit by bit weekly is the best way to experience it.
I wonder if that plays a part in why it's gotten a more lukewarm reception here than it deserves (in my opinion).
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u/Gamerunglued myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued 2d ago
I do sort of agree with this, but I do also think that audiences are not great at finding the little joys and rewards that pop up in the early episodes of slow burns. I've already found plenty to latch on to. Both big picture things like how interesting the setting is, and smaller things.
I actually really like Inako's characterization and I appreciate that her defining characteristic - her steadfast belief in the goodness of other people - is both her greatest strength and flaw. On one hand, she's exactly the kind of person Kihachi, and their society in general, needs. Kihachi feeling his brother's departure is a betrayal killed his trust in others and himself, so unconditional belief in others from someone as earnest as Inako is what it takes to cut through that barrier.
At the same time, Inako's belief in everyone locks her into situations she doesn't want to be in. She gets into fights with her father, gets locked in the basement, and then goes along with him every time, figuring that he must have good intentions and good reasons for doing what he does. She nearly accepted getting married off for that reason, but her belief in Kihachi overcame it. Her faith is blind, and that adds tension to all of the good things about believing in Kihachi so strongly. It's interesting and I think makes for a great dynamic. But the show is subtle about it and paced in such a way that this push and pull is not given dramatic weight, which I don't think it should yet, because it's something to grapple with long term and it's paced as such. I'm really enjoying the show as well and agree that the lukewarm reception is less than deserved, and more than anything I think it's really funny. It's at least half a comedy, the jokes are plenty rewarding in the moment.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
It's an adaptation of a standalone novel rather than a story that was originally serialized, which might have an impact on that aspect.
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u/tripleaamin https://myanimelist.net/profile/zfzftripleaamin 2d ago
I mean, obviously, those that leave a bigger splash will tend to be received better in the early stages. We can look at Yomi no Tsugai as it is a very fundamental, sound, old-school shounen. But with very few wow moments so far.
Many modern fans can't appreciate a good slow burn; they want something happening every week. People will drop an anime or manga on the first episode or chapter if it doesn't capture their attention.
I wouldn't say this is the problem with Sparks. As the characterization of both Inako and Yousuke has issues. (Granted, I don't have as much of a problem with Inako as others have). I would add the pacing feels a bit clunky so far. There is part of me that feels it goes a bit faster for my liking. Since I would rather have them build on the Inako and Kihachi dynamic more than what we have so far, since Inako believing so much in Kihachi feels unnatural.
The thing with the long movie script is what we also had in Agents of the Seasons. Well, we know how it turned out for that one.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
Well, we know how it turned out for that one.
Perfectly fine? But the phrasing of your comment definitely makes it sound like you were saying something negative.
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u/Blue_Reaper99 2d ago
Cause wasn't good.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
It has a 7.7x on MAL and did well in Japan for novel sales (and has a sequel in the works, although that hasn't been officially announced). And I liked it, at least.
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u/Blue_Reaper99 2d ago
It has very mixed bag opinion in here and even on X post I have seen. Shoujo fans probably liked it more but otherwise I haven' t seen lots of overall positive opnions about it.
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u/awesomenessofme1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/kta_99 2d ago
I've seen plenty of positivity on this sub, but even if hadn't, this place is a bubble. I don't mean that in a negative way, it just is. I still remember a survey result saying that Apocalypse Hotel was significantly more popular on this sub than MHA Vigilantes S1 when they came out in the same season, which is one of the most comical things I can remember seeing from one of them.
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u/Blue_Reaper99 2d ago
Ofc this place is bubble lol. No one denying that. But the fact it's sitting on 7.7 on MAL itself proves that it didn't recievd that positive response despite having high production values and site know for inflated rankings. People shit on God of high school yet it has 7.2.
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u/Jusenkyo_5 2d ago
I don't know if I'd say audiences have an issue with "slow burn", I think a lot of the stories that people take this issue with have a lack of a hook or poor exposition.
I think the first 10-20% tends to be one of the more exciting parts of a story. It's a writing failure to make me feel the need to "sit through" boring elements with the promise of a later payoff, laying the groundwork should be enticing on it's own.
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u/Salty145 https://anilist.co/user/yLSalty145 2d ago
Yeah, I think the seasonal grind unfortunately favors stories with more immediate payoffs, while this one is clearly structured more like a complete work that can save its payoffs for the end. I’m half-tempted to also do the same and put it off, but I’m too impatient for that and instead just biding my time waiting for it to click.
To be fair to it though, I don’t mind this style and a lot of my favorite TV anime are structured this way, since it almost ensures we’ll get a proper ending, like you would in a film. In short, it’s playing the long game and I’m perfectly fine with that.
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u/IXajll https://myanimelist.net/profile/ixajii 2d ago
Agreed, it does have that long movie script going on and would probably be a better experience binged, but no way I can just sit idle watching the episodes pile up for like 10 weeks lol.
it’s gotten a more lukewarm reception here than it deserves.
Amen.
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u/entelechtual 2d ago
I watched the first episode of Goodbye Lara, and I already get why people are talking about it so much. It’s immediately compelling and packs a lot into one episode. And it’s obviously visually extremely well-done, but not over the top or distractingly so—it’s not style over substance. Really looking forward to seeing where it goes.
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u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker 2d ago
Why does [Star Detective Precure]Luluka seem angry after seeing Cure Eclair coming back after a long time has passed?
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u/Muted-Conference2900 https://anilist.co/user/WinterZcoming 2d ago
This is the place!
Tea Time!!!
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