thinking about it, that may actually be canonically unexplored territory, though you'd think they'd be able to see there's a slope there, and if not, at least you could infer it
i'm a little way into the third season of Gintama and
i kind of love it?
i wasn't expecting to, because it is at its core a manzai routine and i haven't generally been a fan of that style of humour, since i feel like the tsukkomi ruins the jokes by spelling out what would have made them funny. In that regard my first impressions have been vindicated: Shinpachi, the tsukkomi character, is easily the least interesting member of the main cast, though to its credit the series is well aware of this.
What i wasn't prepared for was how dark the humour gets. In some ways it's a lot like watching Rick and Morty. It's nowhere near as nihilistic as that series, it has a decided optimism which i don't see on that show, but that can make it all the more brutal, because it knows how to tug at the heartstrings and make you invested in the characters' happiness, and then, with precise comedic timing, we get the punchline, which is despair. i don't think i've had my emotions yanked about so blithely by a piece of entertainment media since i finished Undertale, and it's honestly great.
Then there's the sheer absurdity of the situations, the way it mashes things together in surprising ways. At its best, it's absolutely off the wall. There's the time a major landmark is engulfed by a monstrous alien (picture Tetsuo's transformation as imagined by H.R. Giger); the Shinsengumi stand outside with megaphones and announce that they have the building surrounded, that the alien must surrender, and that its mother didn't raise it to be a bad alien like this. Or there's the time Gintoki is defending a friend in court, and the prosecutor produces a previous episode of the show as evidence. Or the time the main characters get hold of a device that can translate the language of dogs: Kagura asks her pet Sadaharu what he thinks of her, and gets the response, "You ranked seventh in JUMP's character poll."
i'm not saying it's the best show or without problems but it's been a lot of fun so far, and it hasn't yet lost the ability to punch me right in the gut unexpectedly, or to make me laugh out loud when i was on the verge of tears moments before.
one time they devoted an entire episode to a parody of Death Note and it was amazing because they didn't go for the obvious jokes, there was no death note, but it was an absolutely perfect parody of the style of that show
Not the biggest Samurai Champloo fan, as to my mind it feels like half of a fifty-two episode series with the tail end of the plot that's supposed to get going after the first half's worth of hijinx crammed in at the very end in a very rushed, emotionally largely unsatisfying way (save for the *very* end and a few isolated key moments). That said, the individual episodes are a lot of fun and the animation is gorgeous, so you could do worse, although I think in Cowboy Bebop alumni terms, Nobumoto's Wolf's Rain (messy and dour but OH MY FEELINGS) and Watanabe's own later gem Space Dandy far surpass it.
I might check those out if I'm in the mood too. Personally, I think Samurai Champloo is a pretty good show. It's not perfect but it's been a good rewatch so far.
Anyways, I need to get back into Remy, Nobody's Girl. The last episode I watched had a good Cliffhanger.
this was surprisingly engaging. the second season had a lot less awkward harem antics and a lot more intrigue and political dealings and some darker themes going on, developing greatly on various hints dropped early in the first season. things were a lot more exciting and interesting overall. some plot events/details suggest much larger things yet to come, though unfortunately we won't get to see them in the absence of a third season (or buying the VNs beyond volume six, or so I've heard). someone on MAL commented that apparently this show is rather faithful to the source material (not that I could tell).
overall it seems that the first season is setup, and the second season is still setup but the action starts happening. the first season is weighed down by a bunch of irritating romance/fanservice scenes, while the second season isn't and has a lot more exciting intrigue. 6/10 and 7/10 respectively. (I increased the first season from a 5 to a 6 because my opinion of it improved after i watched the dub and got more out of it than when i watched the sub.)
Comments
then what happened to west reverse mountain?
Also Aggretsuko, because finally Japan is truly pandering to me with furries and death metal karaoke.
I made this for a thread over at Anime-Planet.com.
Here's the template:
https://forums.tapas.io/uploads/default/original/3X/0/3/03ffee476247d957ba2a3ac020f69b37461171a6.jpg
I'm watching three anime at the moment:
* Samurai Champloo
* Remi, Nobody's Girl
* Amagami SS
I did list Endro, Mysteria Friends, The Price of Smiles, and Grimms Notes in my want-to-watch though.
The Price of Smiles looks especially like something really up my alley.
I might check those out if I'm in the mood too. Personally, I think Samurai Champloo is a pretty good show. It's not perfect but it's been a good rewatch so far.
Anyways, I need to get back into Remy, Nobody's Girl. The last episode I watched had a good Cliffhanger.
this was surprisingly engaging. the second season had a lot less awkward harem antics and a lot more intrigue and political dealings and some darker themes going on, developing greatly on various hints dropped early in the first season. things were a lot more exciting and interesting overall. some plot events/details suggest much larger things yet to come, though unfortunately we won't get to see them in the absence of a third season (or buying the VNs beyond volume six, or so I've heard). someone on MAL commented that apparently this show is rather faithful to the source material (not that I could tell).
overall it seems that the first season is setup, and the second season is still setup but the action starts happening. the first season is weighed down by a bunch of irritating romance/fanservice scenes, while the second season isn't and has a lot more exciting intrigue. 6/10 and 7/10 respectively. (I increased the first season from a 5 to a 6 because my opinion of it improved after i watched the dub and got more out of it than when i watched the sub.)