Let's talk anime.

iTunes has something licensed by Funimation for $5 a season (sometimes half season) almost all the time in their Limited Time Prices row, refreshing every other week, and they should survive any future licensing issues. My Hero Academia and Dr. Stone feature at the moment, with Attack on Titan being featured in the previous two weeks. Some things I do still get on Blu-Ray, but only the ones that for lack of a better term, spark joy.

PlayStation's digital store frequently has sales on funimation titles too. I have all of Outlaw Star in both English & Japanese, (they didn't offer the Japanese language initially, and I picked it up cheap nearly a year later) Mob Psycho 100, & Recovery of an MMO Junkie, plus several more. But I only purchase them when they're on sale under $8 each.
That being said, Sentai Filmworks had an amazing deal [like 60-90% off] on physical media around Christmas, so I haven't gone completely digital yet, having picked up Ushio & Tora (in a fun collector's edition), Grimoire of Zero, & Parasyte -the maxim- on Blu-ray for extra cheap to add to my existing collections of physical anime.

Amazon Prime in my region had tons of anime, but suddenly pretty much everything on there disappeared.

I've bought a fair number of Blu-Rays in the relatively recent past--mostly things that were either very difficult to find (legitimately) streaming or were favorite shows that I didn't want to lose access to. I haven't been buying as many lately because I'm trying to limit the physical stuff I cram into my apartment right now, but that applies across the board, not just to anime.

I've received some as gifts, but the last discs I bought for myself were from the Skypiea arc in One Piece, which was 2003 I believe...

You, my friend, were one arc away from arguably the best run One Piece has ever had.

Grenn wrote:

You, my friend, were one arc away from arguably the best run One Piece has ever had.

Oh, I've watched every ep and read every chapter. It's my favorite anime. I just mean that was the last physical disc I bought.

ukickmydog wrote:
Grenn wrote:

You, my friend, were one arc away from arguably the best run One Piece has ever had.

Oh, I've watched every ep and read every chapter. It's my favorite anime. I just mean that was the last physical disc I bought.

Oh. Well, I'm sorry for Husbandosplaining One Piece, then.

Grenn wrote:

You, my friend, were one arc away from arguably the best run One Piece has ever had.

Well, one manga arc... the anime goes through two filler arcs and destroys that one manga arc before it gets there. Seriously, the Davy Back Fight was a great arc in the manga and as bad as the filler arcs in the anime. It doesn't help it is proceeded by what is arguably the best filler arc in the anime.

Mantid wrote:
Grenn wrote:

You, my friend, were one arc away from arguably the best run One Piece has ever had.

Well, one manga arc... the anime goes through two filler arcs and destroys that one manga arc before it gets there. Seriously, the Davy Back Fight was a great arc in the manga and as bad as the filler arcs in the anime. It doesn't help it is proceeded by what is arguably the best filler arc in the anime.

The only thing I can do to save face is say that I NEVER include filler and to pedantically point out that Aokiji shows up at the ending of the Davey Back arc and that it was this that pushed Robin to leave and Luffy to develop Gear Second.

One Piece 963 Oden vs Whitebeard

Pretty much hated nearly all the flashback episode in Wano but liked this episode. I think it is because I find the Whitebeard pirates interesting and don't care at all about the samurai. I hope they stay with the Whitebeard pirates for a bit.

I haven't read the manga but I think the intro song to Attack on Titan is something that will happen. Maybe not the very end but near the end if not the end.

Just a guess from the intro

Spoiler:

So we know they have airships now. We have also seen titans dropped onto a battle field. In the intro we see titans falling from the sky. I think this type of attack will be repeated but with a twist. In the intro stuff is blowing up in colors. I think the titans are going to explode instead of going on rampage. They will be titan bombs that explode and release a gas that traps whatever it touches into rock. In the intro we see all the titans trapped in rock.

Erwin will somehow be able to pass his abilities to the titans and command them to use that rock ability on impact.

Or maybe it is just random images. We seen giant animals in other intros and those have never shown up.

Prederick wrote:

Rewatching GITS:SAC, and it's better than I remember while all of my old criticisms (the Major is hyper-competent to the point of removing any drama/conflict, Hooo-boy does it give "Kid who just finished a Philosophy 101 class" vibes) still feel valid.

Finished season 1 last night, and GOOD GOD does this show love the sound of its own voice. Like, it owns it, but MY GOD some of the dialogue.

Also, was something lost in translation? Because I'm lost on some of the worldbuilding they've done. They're up to WWIV in-universe, but not a whole lot of information gives you details on the conflict. Also, I'm entirely unsure how Section 9 works, beyond "is a Government Black Ops group, with tons of funding and apparently zero oversight whatsoever."

Spoiler:

Also, I could not stop laughing at the idea of the Department of Health sending a hit squad to kill people in the know about Season 1's scandal. I have no idea what powers the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has in Japan, but even in a futuristic dystopia, the idea that the same people in charge of Worker's Comp claims are hiring hitmen to murder people is absolutely hilariously ridiculous. Like saying that Kathleen Sebelius was going to have someone killed for knowing too much about some pharmaceutical merger.

Having realised I wasn’t going to be able to afford all the manga I want to read I thought I’d pick a few stories off through the medium of anime. At the moment I’m working through what Netflix has to offer. There’s some good stuff. I’d already seen Parasyte (which I think was responsible for my renewed interest in Manga.) I’m working on Demon Hunter and Tokyo Ghoul but what I’ve really clicked with it Ajin.

What I enjoy are stories where the protagonists and antagonists have powers that they use in increasingly smart and inventive ways. Ajin looks like it’s going to fill that brief nicely.

Crunchyroll still has a working manga service, even though their iOS app hasn't been updated in a couple of years.

Watched Demon Slayer a bit ago along with the movie which releases next month in the US. I put off watching this show just because I kept thinking it was Goblin Slayer which I had already seen. After realizing I was getting my animes mixed up I checked it out. The show is very good. Shonen protagonist are usually good but not like this guy. This guy is the most real and the most kind shonen character to date. Him and his sister have a special bond and not in a creepy incest way. And oh the feels, so many feels. I nearly cried a few times.

The animation is wonderful. Kind of funny because I think the flashy moves aren't real. i think they are to show the audience the power in the moves. Also odd are some of the character designs. Some characters have eyes that are always open wide that is a little off putting. I was wondering if they would turnout to be some creepy villains. That becomes very clear especially in the movie. And note that the movie is part of the series. The movie is like season 2 of the series, it doesn't stand alone on its own.

Anyway good show.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

The movie is like season 2 of the series, it doesn't stand alone on its own.

Should note that the movie is the next arc in the manga following the arc the TV sereis ends with, so it is a cannon continuation of the story.

Tanjiro is anime's big brother.

Question: I'm, at best, a casual anime fan. If I decide to try out Satoshi Kon's work once I finish GITS:SAC, will that be like walking into a 400-level class after finishing Anime 101? Will anything make sense to me, or do I need some in-between material to watch first?

I think you'll be fine. Satoshi Kon's anime are pretty crazy, as far as fantastic scenes, details, and depth, but I don't think they are so cryptic that you need specific knowledge to enjoy them.

Satoshi Kon's works are the sort I'd recommend to film buffs regardless of their experience with anime.

Mantid wrote:

I think you'll be fine. Satoshi Kon's anime are pretty crazy, as far as fantastic scenes, details, and depth, but I don't think they are so cryptic that you need specific knowledge to enjoy them.

ccesarano wrote:

Satoshi Kon's works are the sort I'd recommend to film buffs regardless of their experience with anime.

Yup to both! Just enjoy his work!

So, I'm catching up on the "final" season of Attack on Titan. Currently watching episode 73. The pacing of everything finally got good. It's intense. They really milked the story on those first 3 seasons or so.

Not sure how I feel about the series in general. There's a lot of eyebrow raising themes going on and whatnot. I want to see where they get to in the end before placing final judgement on the whole thing.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Not sure how I feel about the series in general. There's a lot of eyebrow raising themes going on and whatnot. I want to see where they get to in the end before placing final judgement on the whole thing.

FYI, they split the Final Season into two cours, just like they did with the third season, so you won't see how it ends until about this time next year.

Mantid wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Not sure how I feel about the series in general. There's a lot of eyebrow raising themes going on and whatnot. I want to see where they get to in the end before placing final judgement on the whole thing.

FYI, they split the Final Season into two cours, just like they did with the third season, so you won't see how it ends until about this time next year.

That's just fine! I ain't in a hurry. I've barely had time to get to what's currently airing. I'm just super happy that there isn't any filler content. They're getting straight to the point with every episode, and it's extremely refreshing.

The final half of the final season of Attack on Titan will be back in 2022 around this time.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

The final half of the final season of Attack on Titan will be back in 2022 around this time.

That's just annoying. It really bugs me getting half of a season a year / at a time. Even more so if it is not known up front. And I know Netflix calls half-seasons a full season for things like Voltron and Castlevania., which is I guess better, but really needs more accurate marketing so we know going in that it's a shortened series of episodes.

Then again, there's shows like Made in Abyss that just vaporized into recap movies and I think one new content movie but I'm not sure and I've not had much luck getting a good indication of what's happening there.

To your Eternity got an anime adaptation. Which I didn't hear about. I'm surprised that it did. It is very good, but also rather strange. It's basically a drama following an immortal thing/being as it basically learns to live. Literally starting from a rock and moving up. It's a hard to categorize/explain sort of show. So I thought it wouldn't have the broad enough appeal for an anime. But the writing was rather good. Must have caught someones eye.

Prederick wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Rewatching GITS:SAC, and it's better than I remember while all of my old criticisms (the Major is hyper-competent to the point of removing any drama/conflict, Hooo-boy does it give "Kid who just finished a Philosophy 101 class" vibes) still feel valid.

Finished season 1 last night, and GOOD GOD does this show love the sound of its own voice. Like, it owns it, but MY GOD some of the dialogue.

Also, was something lost in translation? Because I'm lost on some of the worldbuilding they've done. They're up to WWIV in-universe, but not a whole lot of information gives you details on the conflict. Also, I'm entirely unsure how Section 9 works, beyond "is a Government Black Ops group, with tons of funding and apparently zero oversight whatsoever."

Spoiler:

Also, I could not stop laughing at the idea of the Department of Health sending a hit squad to kill people in the know about Season 1's scandal. I have no idea what powers the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has in Japan, but even in a futuristic dystopia, the idea that the same people in charge of Worker's Comp claims are hiring hitmen to murder people is absolutely hilariously ridiculous. Like saying that Kathleen Sebelius was going to have someone killed for knowing too much about some pharmaceutical merger.

Finished! Here is my spoiler-filled review of Season 2.

Spoiler:

IMAGE(https://i.gifer.com/origin/16/1611b4b3f5b9bfb87b0714c68bd12278_w200.gif)

I'm still wrapping up from the last season, but this new season has some real promise:

86 - Had a strong first episode. The light novels are really solid dystopian military fiction, so this has potential. I'm curious as to what they're planning for the pacing; the first novel has a really good stopping point so even if they stop the adaptation there it'll be a strong show.

Zombieland Saga: Revenge - strong opening episode; the first season had a lot of heart, so I have good expectations for this next season.

To Your Eternity - Have read the source material, but the first episode has a lot of emotional heft. Right now it reminds me of the way good mid-20th century television could do stand-alone episodes that acted as contained short stories.

I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level - The light novel is a bit fluffy, but since it is built around a core message of avoiding overwork I felt like I needed it.

So I'm a Spider, So What? - The protagonist continues her struggle. Continuing strong as I'd expect from a solid adaptation of what I consider to be the best isakai novel series. I'm curious how far they're planning to go with the adaptation, because I suspect they won't get to some of my favorite bits. But I'd rather they take their time instead of rushing through it, so that's fine.

There's a bunch more that look interesting but haven't started airing or I haven't found time to watch yet.