Non-Weebo Chill Bros Anime Thread

[eochaid]

That's the good thing about anime is that, despite what the most of people tend to think, it has a wide range of genres. Or, to say it in another way, it's not restricted to any genre. If more people were willing to give it a chance, despite the insane amount of garbage that there is, like in any other media, they would be surprised and enjoy a lot of the shows because the stories are for everyone.

One thing that I came to notice, specially when reading manga compared to western comics, is that the language is more accesible to the people. I mean, in anime and manga, the characters talk like real people while in the western media, at least that's what I felt, everything is pretentious. So I came to the conclusion that that's one of the things as to why I like manga and anime. This and that I find the designs far more attractive than the realistic designs that western media likes that much.

 

[The Grayfox]

Yeah, I grew up reading western comics and watching X-Men cartoons, stuff like that. I enjoyed it when I was a kid. But I have friends who are grown men and have arguments about which of their favorite superheroes could beat up the other's "in real life." Stuff like that has put me off Marvel and DC and all of that stuff as an adult. I've seen almost all of the Marvel movies but at this point, I don't think I can watch another one. At their core, they're all the same and follow the same formula. Even the classic comics all follow the same formula. In my short few weeks watching anime, I'm almost pissed at myself for missing out on it for so long. I've never looked down on it or anything like that, I just never got into it for whatever reason. But as you said, your options when it comes to anime are VAST and I'm a big fan of that.

 

[eochaid]

In anime and manga there are also discussions about which character is stronger. My approach is to just enjoy the stories and the art and to forget about sterile discussions.

 

[The Grayfox]

You guys ever watched Dororo? The 2019 series, that is. I found it to be quite entertaining.

 

[DE4life]

I thought this said Dorito at first, googled Dorito anime and got some seriously sus results

As far as Dororo is concerned, no, but it looks interesting. I'll check it out.

 

[eochaid]

Dororo is the child whose body parts were stolen at birth?

 

[The Grayfox]

Dorito the anime - It's about nacho cheese flavored snacks and the demons who will do anything to steal them.

Eochaid - Yes, that's the one.

 

[eochaid]

Ok. I started it but never ended. I'm not sure why.

If you're watching it at Amazon Video then take a look at Sword of the Immortal and, of course, Full metal Alchemist.

 

[eochaid]

Dudes, just watch the Apothecary Diaries. It is too good to just ignore it.

 

[DE4life]

It has been a while since I watched any anime, so I'll take a look.

 

[DE4life]

Well, turns out I've already seen it, haha. My girlfriend's daughter has been watching it, I just didn't realise that was the name of the series. But yeah it's pretty good, although we are midway through at the moment.

 

[eochaid]

The last seasons have been, overall, bad. With a few exceptions. Also, Sakamoto days has an average animation but the story is great.

I started watching the Apothecary, then my daughter saw me watching it and now she is on date with the show while I'm still half a season back.

The characters are great.

 

[The Grayfox]

I was on a bit of a hiatus from anime as well but I was just thinking I might start a new series soon and take a break from BritBox cozy mysteries. I'll check it out.

 

[eochaid]

I only watch anime these days. I find everything else to be boring, uninteresting or repetitive.

 

[DE4life]

I finally got around to watching Dragonball Daima. I never really got into Super, so wasn't sure about this one either. I actually really enjoyed it though. It had the Toriyama spirit that I felt has always been somewhat missing from Super. It felt like a nice mixture of Dragonball, Z and GT. There was maybe a little too much filler at points (in that way it was a lot like GT) but overall it was a pretty fun series to watch. I wasn't sure about the main characters being turned into kids, but got used to it quickly. The design was a bit odd for most of the characters in this regard though, more like chibi/bobblehead versions of the characters. Goku was the only one who looked like an actual child, but I suppose they have plenty of templates to go off with Dragonball and DBGT.

I'll add a spoiler tag for the next bit...

Spoiler

It was really great to see the transformations at the end of the series. Vegeta as SSJ3 was very cool, and I was stunned that they brought back SSJ4 for Goku. I had zero knowledge beforehand, so it was a genuine surprise for me. I figured SSJ4 would always be buried as non-canon with GT, so it was awesome to see it make a return as it's an awesome design. Daima is canon apparently, so SSJ4 is now a canon transformation. Not sure how it works with Super, considering Daima is before Super, but whatever. SSJ4 is a better transformation than any of the "God" transformations, which I have little time for.

It felt like Toriyama was really giving some love to DB and DBGT in this series, with Z being the primary catalyst and style for Super. Daima is more light-hearted and doesn't take itself so seriously, whilst also bringing back various elements from both DB and DBGT. I got the feeling from watching this that Toriyama had a real soft spot for GT, at least from the perspective of the design and general ideas - which would make sense as he wasn't involved so much in the GT story.

Anyway, I thought this was a nice series for Toriyama to go out on - it showcases the best elements of all of his styles across the years, from comedy, character designs, battles and world building. Daima does a nice job of adding to the lore of the series without making it stupid, although some moments do feel like they break the canon established during Super. I don't really care about Super, though, so personally I can't say it bothers me.

 

[eochaid]

For me, the point is if any of these DB new shows were necessary, and the answer is always (personally), no.

But, Japan is falling under the same mistake of the USA companies. They are trying to exploit their top shows with sequels that no one asked for.

In the meantime, shows like Dan Da Dan or Kaiju Number 8 are showing what should be the path for anime. Fresh ideas and great animation.

Those were a relief in the middle of that desert that is the current anime industry. A mess of repetition and lack of originality.

 

[DE4life]

Honestly you could argue Dragonball kind of set the precedent for that back in the 90's. It went on way longer than it needed to. It should have wrapped up at the end of the Cell saga, but not only continued for another full arc but then added Dragonball GT - a very unnecessary sequel, albeit anime only.

Whilst GT had some cool ideas, it would have been better to just go Dragonball > Dragonball Z > Dragonball Daima. Forget GT & Super. Z went on too long, but Daima would have been a nice bookend to the series regardless. At only 20 episodes it didn't really feel like a cash grab, it genuinely felt like Toriyama giving the characters one last hurrah. I'm OK with that. Not so much GT and Super, which are one failed and one successful attempt at milking an already stale franchise.

 

[eochaid]

Toriyama just lost it. He couldn't write interesting stories or characters anymore and was seduced by the excessive powers of the main characters. At first, I thought that Goten and Trunks were bringing some fresh air to the story, bit he decided to leave them apart and focus again on Goku and Vegeta, two characters that had nothing else to give.

Now, though I'm not a big fan, I think that Oda is really showing how to keep a story interesting even in a really long run. Toriyama, just didn't had it in him. His stories went more and more boring as they were growing old. And I think that he's not a great storyteller. My favourite part is still all that involves young Goku. It had no other intent than to entertain in a naive and light way.

But that was not enough ti make me interested in Daima. For some reason, his former editor also doesn't have a good opinion on Daima or Super.

The thing is that there aren'y similar stories anymore that are directed to children. Most of the shonen is not shonen anymore. It's straight seinen, or so it should be named 20 or 30 ago. So, dragon ball is still the show, along with one piece, to introduce children into anime and manga. And I wish that there were newer and fresher options out there. But there aren't. So, I guess, that making Daima was an attempt to recover that spirit of adventure that could reach to children and expand their imagination. I appreciate that but that was not enough.

Now, the fact that they are making a DB themed park in Saudi Arab days a lot about how shueisha is seeing the franchise. Is just a machine for making money. They don't care anymore about their supposed target, the children, and are trying to reach to our nostalgia. And that's why both Super and Daima failed. Because we have nostalgia for the original story, not for new stories. And because they couldn't reach for new audiences. My daughter just saw one chapter of Daima before dropping it but she waits every week for Dan da dan, Salamoto Days, My Dress Up darling or a whole year for the new Spy x family. Stories that directly appeal to the sensibilities of the younger generations.

 

[DE4life]

Original DB is cool. First part of DBZ is cool. Freeza saga needed to be cut down a lot, way too much filler, but a solid enough arc. Android/Cell saga, I can still get behind, just about.

After that, yeah, just repetitive. Even Daima is derivative, nothing new there, but it's harmless. Nice throwbacks to various little bits of DB shows. There's even a Ginyu Force tribute. It'd be charming if the series hadn't been so prostituted over the last 13 years or so.

Nowadays I have no interest in DB stuff, which is why I was surprised I liked Daima. Maybe because I've watched basically nothing of Super or any of the new movies.

For what it's worth, even Toriyama said he was no great storyteller. He was a gag writer who accidentally created a smash hit and was pretty much compelled to try and make a proper story out of it. I think if he'd had his way DBZ may not have existed at all.

 

[eochaid]

I'm still trying to get my children to watch the original anime bit it's hard. It needs a remake. I have the entire manga but I haven't read it in an awful lot of time. Even though I'm buying the latest edition that's for sale here in Spain. I guess that nostalgia weights more than my actual interest. Though, it's still fun to draw and the visuals were good even after the characters became square shapes.

But I really enjoy more the art style from other artists whose works are more appealing to me.

I think this is something like Asterix. I grew up with it so I keep a nice memory of it. And I still refuse to let it go. After all, it's a big part of why I love manga and anime. For me and for a couple of different generations.

Now, the second season from Kaiju N 8 has just ended and holy shit. That show doesn't have all the love that it deserves. And, if everything goes as I think, there's only one more season left till it ends.