Summer Season 2024

[Ryllharu]

It feels like modern anime-makers (or the mangaka writing the stories that get adapted) have completely forgotten how to tell GOOD stories.
...
I really refuse any notion of "everything used to be better back then"-boomer accusations, because at least for anime, it's simply true. Anime used to be so much better.

You say this multiple times a year, and it fundamentally and objectively is not true. I see no reason to repeat the rebuttal I wrote last time across dozens of posts, so find it and re-read it.

Anime adaptations are going to be what sells, as DEX pointed out.

As for manga, you're reading the wrong shit and that's on you.

also, when did the translation become so bad and so low effort?
Twenty years ago we would get each OP and ED fully translated, kanji and romanji to sing along. now we don't have anything.
They would never allow the subtitles to clash with the on-screen text and create this unreadable mess.
and they would have translated the MC's name as Null, indicating that he has no skills.
this is basic shit.

When Crunchyroll took over licensing and Funimation subsequently bought CR and took their name because Funimation's was permanently tainted by their decades of lower quality that made CR rise over them in the first place.

There's no fansubbers anymore, just rippers using the official simulcast translation.

The OP/ED lyrics come when the singles are released. Same as fansubs did mid-season. But good riddance to the karaoke hardsubs on top of the OP/ED, imo.

What? You don't think the premise of an elf that can't stop eating french fries is fertile enough ground to carry an entire series?

How little you know...

[MFauli]

You say this multiple times a year, and it fundamentally and objectively is not true. I see no reason to repeat the rebuttal I wrote last time across dozens of posts, so find it and re-read it.

Anime adaptations are going to be what sells, as DEX pointed out.

This doesn't contradict what I wrote.

Yes, shit stories are made into shit anime, because it sells. At the same time, they remain shit, unlike anime from 20-30 years ago which told bonafide great stories combined with great animation.

Just because you like modern gimmick bait doesn't mean anime is good.

And I don't read manga. I watch anime and commented on that.

[Death BOO Z]

When Crunchyroll took over licensing and Funimation subsequently bought CR and took their name because Funimation's was permanently tainted by their decades of lower quality that made CR rise over them in the first place.

There's no fansubbers anymore, just rippers using the official simulcast translation.

The OP/ED lyrics come when the singles are released. Same as fansubs did mid-season. But good riddance to the karaoke hardsubs on top of the OP/ED, imo.

so you're saying that it's normal to have multiple lines of dialog clashing like this?
Screenshot 2024-07-06 103451.jpg

[KrayZ33]

This doesn't contradict what I wrote.

Yes, shit stories are made into shit anime, because it sells. At the same time, they remain shit, unlike anime from 20-30 years ago which told bonafide great stories combined with great animation.

Just because you like modern gimmick bait doesn't mean anime is good.

And I don't read manga. I watch anime and commented on that.

Oh come on, you know damn well that the majority of animes 20-30 years ago were absolute shit as well. It's not true at all that they used to be better, no matter how much you want to deny it.
It's rare for anime to have good writing or direction.
All the kid shows you probably liked are absolute garbage and full of these nonsense situations you are complaining abut.
("Parry" is shitty writing and low effort, just pointing that out in case someone might think I'm defending that garbage)

And that's just the stuff you watched like everyone else on RTL2, VOX, MTV and the likes.
The sea had way more fish, fish that never crossed the sea, that were even dumber than what we watched.

so you're saying that it's normal to have multiple lines of dialog clashing like this?
Screenshot 2024-07-06 103451.jpg

I don't watch streams, I guess this will get fixed soon. It's not "standard" at all though.

[MFauli]

Oh come on, you know damn well that the majority of animes 20-30 years ago were absolute shit as well. It's not true at all that they used to be better, no matter how much you want to deny it.
It's rare for anime to have good writing or direction.
All the kid shows you probably liked are absolute garbage and full of these nonsense situations you are complaining abut.
("Parry" is shitty writing and low effort, just pointing that out in case someone might think I'm defending that garbage)

And that's just the stuff you watched like everyone else on RTL2, VOX, MTV and the likes.
The sea had way more fish, fish that never crossed the sea, that were even dumber than what we watched.

But I'm not comparing EVERYTHING then to EVERYTHING now. I'm comparing the best from then to the best from now and that difference is crass imo.

Simple question: Which fantasy anime of the past 5 years is on par with Record of Ldoss War? Certainly not Mushoku Tensei, as much as I'm enjoying it.

[KrayZ33]

Frieren - easily.
Much better even.

Mushoku too, even if you don't think so.

You overestimate that old flick btw, standards where pretty low, that's why it's so good.
Depending on whether you refer to the OVA or series I'd rate the show differently too.


btw:
Grancrest Senki is from the same author.
As far as I remember that show didn't do well on this forum, I kinda liked it, because it featured the coolest fire mage ever shown in anime, but it was nothing to write home about. It wasn't a bad work though, I think standards just became higher.

[Ryllharu]

btw:
Grancrest Senki is from the same author.
As far as I remember that show didn't do well on this forum, I kinda liked it, because it featured the coolest fire mage ever shown in anime, but it was nothing to write home about. It wasn't a bad work though, I think standards just became higher.

I liked Grancrest a lot, but the title of coolest fire mage still goes to the Gorilla Cyclops herself: Maki Oze of Fire Force.

[KrayZ33]

I liked Grancrest a lot, but the title of coolest fire mage still goes to the Gorilla Cyclops herself: Maki Oze of Fire Force.

Ah, yeah, she's cool too.

But in Grancrest I loved her last battle where she soaked herself with something flamable to enhance her power, just to be burned alive in the process to defend her Duke.
Pretty awesome move, the fact that she was "dancing" while throwing flames around was even better.
If anything, that's something I'll always remember and hope to someday integrate in my p&p campaigns

[MFauli]

Frieren - easily.
Much better even.

Mushoku too, even if you don't think so.

You overestimate that old flick btw, standards where pretty low, that's why it's so good.
Depending on whether you refer to the OVA or series I'd rate the show differently too.


btw:
Grancrest Senki is from the same author.
As far as I remember that show didn't do well on this forum, I kinda liked it, because it featured the coolest fire mage ever shown in anime, but it was nothing to write home about. It wasn't a bad work though, I think standards just became higher.

Frieren is one of the most overrated anime of all time and the more people praise it, the more I hate it. Emotionless characters, a story that's boring until the tournament in the last 6 or so episodes and nothing exciting being told ever. An anime where every character tries SO HARD to look and sound bored. Fuck Frieren.

I'm honestly at a loss of words if you put that and Mushoku on par with Record of Lodoss War ... which I rewatched last year and damn, it's as good as it ever was.

[DarthEnderX]

You overestimate that old flick btw, standards where pretty low, that's why it's so good.
Depending on whether you refer to the OVA or series I'd rate the show differently too.

I have a ton of nostalgia for Lodoss, but it's pretty generic compared to some of the stuff that comes out now.

Though a lot of that is "It feels standard because it SET the standard." I mean, hell, the entire concept of what anime Elves and Dark Elves are comes from Lodoss.

Frieren is one of the most overrated anime of all time and the more people praise it, the more I hate it.

Die wrong then.

[MFauli]

"Generic" is such a worthless adjective. Execution is what matters, and modern anime fails at it.

If we stay with it, Mushoku Tensei AT ITS BEST is maybe as good as Record of Lodoss War. But: Record of Lodoss War is at its level ALL THE TIME, whereas we get a scene like the fight against the crystal hydra dragon maybe twice per Mushoku-season.

And Darth, I'm not trolling or anything, I really don't think Frieren is that good of an anime. If it received more hype, it's because the rest is so shit nowadays.

[KrayZ33]

Frieren is "hyped" because it's actually good.
I recommended this show to a lot of non frequent anime watchers that mostly don't watch anime because most of it is mediocre-to-shit.

They all liked it and are praising the story telling and the concept in general. And they are right, the show is brimming with details and worldbuilding and the story has a very unique touch to the typical "lets go on an adventure" genre because the point of view is so different.
It's a very good show, in my opinion - the best anime in my lifetime so far. I can only hope that Season 2 will just be as awesome.
Music, animation, characters, world building, sense of scale, it's all there.

The discussion is kinda irrelevant though, we can't put Story 1 and Story 2 side by side and compare them.

Though a lot of that is "It feels standard because it SET the standard." I mean, hell, the entire concept of what anime Elves and Dark Elves are comes from Lodoss.

Well, tbf, Lodoss is mostly (entirely?) "western" fantasy, elves included.

[MFauli]

the best anime in my lifetime so far.

:|

Never call anyone else a troll again. Sigh.


Edit: And people who don't watch anime like Frieren? Yeah, let's judge the quality of an anime by the opinion of people that hate anime, LOL.

[KrayZ33]

:|

Never call anyone else a troll again. Sigh.


Edit: And people who don't watch anime like Frieren? Yeah, let's judge the quality of an anime by the opinion of people that hate anime, LOL.

It's almost certainly better than using you as a base, lmao.
Geez.

Imaging saying that, when at the same time saying that anime sucked for the last 20-30 years.

I wonder who hates anime more.

[MFauli]

It's almost certainly better than using you as a base, lmao.
Geez.

Imaging saying that, when at the same time saying that anime sucked for the last 20-30 years.

I wonder who hates anime more.

I'm saying modern anime has been shit compared to anime in the past, not ALL anime is shit, otherwise I wouldn't watch anymore.

But calling fucking Frieren your FAVORITE anime of all times is just so ... spiteful. I don't believe you.

And yeah, try shitting on my anime taste, when I cite anime like Record of Lodoss War, Claymore, Gantz, Berserk or others. Clearly those are all mediocre shows compared to big brain-anime like Mushoku Tensei and Frieren and Smartphone Isekai.

Oh man, the dishonesty is too much rn, sorry, gotta cool off somewhere .... ugh

[Death BOO Z]

should we maybe have a different thread about bashing/questioning why other people like a certain manga and why they don't like another one or think it's overrated? cuz I also have opinions!

watched the 2.5 seduction first episode. it was ok, I liked it. (I also started a re-read of the manga, so I know that the great parts should start in two or three episodes). I think they dialed down the echi (and the nose bleeds), which is both nice but also takes away from the series.

[Ryllharu]

I'm saying modern anime has been shit compared to anime in the past, not ALL anime is shit, otherwise I wouldn't watch anymore.

Anime of the past (pre-2008 to set a milestone for sake of argument) was just as shit as it is today, minus two particular banner years (which the 2010s and 2020s have each also had). There was simply less of it by a factor of 3-4.

And yeah, try shitting on my anime taste, when I cite anime like Record of Lodoss War, Claymore, Gantz, Berserk or others. Clearly those are all mediocre shows compared to big brain-anime like Mushoku Tensei and Frieren and Smartphone Isekai.

Watch as I do so!

Lodoss War whatever, there's not that many standout fantasy series as a whole. Still not sure if we're talking OVA or TV series, and there's a big difference between the two. For that era, I've always preferred Slayers for its parody tone that switches on a dime. As for the sake of this discussion...Bakuretsu Hunter also exists from the same era and...uh...is what it is. Also the first three Queen's Blade seasons are weirdly just as detailed as Lodoss War in terms of lore. Is QB a good series? No. But fun.

Claymore? Absolute dogshit adaptation of a very good manga, which itself is not perfect. Not better than the author's other work Angel Densetsu despite being a completely different genre.

Berserk? 1997 version is reasonably close to perfect as far as dark fantasy/historical series go, but the series as a whole never quite hits the same high as the Golden Age arc ever again, but since we're only looking at the anime versions, we can set that aside.

Gantz? It's gore porn when it isn't regular porn. The anime adaptation was again, not great compared to the source material and the source material gets equally bad as it progresses. It's about the same level as Btooom, and only marginally better than the average death game anime. Which are generally quite bad modern or previously.

So aside from personal taste, no. They're really not that exceptional. Just catering to your specific tastes. And aside from Lodoss, there's a rather obvious through-line.

[KrayZ33]

should we maybe have a different thread about bashing/questioning why other people like a certain manga and why they don't like another one or think it's overrated? cuz I also have opinions!

watched the 2.5 seduction first episode. it was ok, I liked it. (I also started a re-read of the manga, so I know that the great parts should start in two or three episodes). I think they dialed down the echi (and the nose bleeds), which is both nice but also takes away from the series.

That 2. seduction is this "dress up darling 0.5" - show, right?
Or is it better than 0.5?

[Ryllharu]

Watched Elf-san wa Yaserarenai (aka Fat Elf).

I was surprised both that the episodes were only 11 minutes long (the second "half" is exercise instructional chibi content and not simulcast) and that there's just exposed breasts within the first three minutes. I kind of expected the series to be censored a bit.

The voice cast is good and the art is fine and generally faithful to the manga.

It's dumb and I'm going to watch it. Kuroeda (the dark elf working part time at a convenience store) is obviously best girl. Though they're all remarkably stupid. The isekai mechanic is deliberately simple and the series is better for just handwaving it.

[Death BOO Z]

it's different. both are good. better or worse depends on the mood and what kind of feelings you want from the story.
I'm more of a manga person, so I'll base my judgment on that.
it's got a more fantasy vibe than dress-up darling (it doesn't strive for realism), the world the story takes place in is a bit better, brighter, more positive, larger-than-life and the plot is happier than that of dress up darling. the actual parts of creating cosplay are glossed over to make place for the drama arcs of the characters. it's a journey of "meet character, action scene, flashback as needed, resolve" with cosplay as the connective tissue and the thing the characters experience their emotional issue through.

reading through it again, i can see that it has a thought-out plot progression, so it's not just repeating the same story beats again and again, which is a plus. I like when they do the reference based humor (I usually recognize the HxH ones, and not the dark souls references). I know cosplayers in real life (through social media), and it's great to see a depiction that cares for them.

however, the romance based parts are weaker in my opinion, and the series picks up only after a volume or two, when we get to the first event and meet the first out-of-school friend.

also, I'm excited to see real-life cosplayers re-create the fictional characters.