Anime/Manga - Discuss Japanese cartoons and comics here; NO CULTURE WAR DOOMPOSTING!

[Professor Donger]

It's not like MHA didn't have potential, it just switched gears from being a low stakes slice of life high school anime to trying to emulate some big comic book event that the author clearly didn't know enough about and now you have a pile with dissonant elements from each mixed with edgy shonen tropes that fails to deliver on what anyone wanted except shippers. I don't know that it's the most overrated shonen of the last 5 years (I'd give that to JJK) but I don't think people shitting on it is undeserved or unreasonable.

To double post but kind of cover why I dislike MHA. The show started off with a pretty decent premise like Oddjob here said. It was a low stakes slice of life action shonen about a powerless but selfless kid being gifted incredible power and the chance to become the number 1 hero.

The characters were alright, nothing revolutionary but fun, and the setting was interesting. The problem was the author couldn't figure out if he wanted to stick to the school setting or not and then convinced himself or was convinced by his editors that the plot needed bigger stakes each arch.

You go from dealing with normal school shit and prepping for tournaments and work studies to dealing with a serial killer and the league of villains which is fine.

Then you move up to the Yakuza, who's leader wants to erase super powers, okay cool.

Then you deal with AFO and the league again but take AFO out of the picture? Again that's fine. But they then start trying to escalate further by introducing ReDestro and then have AFO and Tomura try and mostly succeed at destroying Japan.

This all happens within Izuku's first year at U.A

The manga would have benefited greatly from a time skip. Have the manga progress until AFO is arrested, the league of villains goes to ground and is on the run and the heroes think it's only a matter of time before they capture them, so the students can rest easy and actually train. Time Skip to their final year at UA and that's when you then introduce the final war arc.

It's not perfect but it's better than expecting me to believe all this happened in the span of a year.

The other issue I had is with the characters, they all pretty much stay somewhat the same, there is some development, like Izuku growing in his confidence and so on but the overall characterization of every student at U.A is pretty much the same from when the Manga started.

I think it also just suffers from cast bloat. Class 1 A has 20 students in it, and we follow a lot of them throughout the story. We also follow teachers and some other characters as well.

Class 1A is arguably the main cast of the manga though and realistically only five of them should have been treated that way, those five being Izuku, Katsuki, Ochako, Tenya and Shoto.

 

[DocAwe]

The only redeeming factor of MHA is the frog girl and I refuse to elaborate.

 

[Red Dragon]

You're free to criticize things as well, let's hear it.

I already did in this very thread, tourist; lurk moar. I just don't bother to annoy people who want to discuss Berserk, or GiTS, or wathever aura farming/isekai trash they watch by saying shit or being openly confrontative. You know, trying to be civil on the only forum I can discuss my tastes freely is the least I can do.

Urotsukidōji is a nice romance story.

Already watched it. That brings me memories from simpler times, thanks.

May I ask why you dislike GitS, Berserk and Dragon Ball? I'm not offended you dislike them but I'm curious as to why

GiTS has always been, at least for me, 'babies first dystopia' for anime fans, similar to Akira for normies. I also dislike when a series is know for some kind of philosophical debate instead of the story itself, I find it pretentious (this is why I'm reluctant to watch Frieren). And there's also the lesbianism part; I had my share of IRL lesbians being dicks and I'm not fond of faggotry even if it's women.

Berserk is dark fantasy, a genre I always disliked. I also have old friends who are VERY annoying about it, and that sours my opinion even further.

Dragon Ball is just half-naked men screaming at each other, absurd power levels, the majority of the episodes' time being padding, every enemy being a regenerating monster after a point, the story dragging itself... Mind you I'm talking about the original airing, not the Kai version. I did watch the Freeza saga, but I didn't bother to continue when I could choose to watch anything else. I understand why a lot of people like it, but it's not for me.

The mangaka is pretty good at designing female characters in general.

This 100%; if instead of a crybaby we had a trio of heroines MHA would be legendary. But we know the author would fuck it up, all of the series shortcomings are his fault. I do like the setting - it's basically a dystopia masking itself as a totally normal and happy future, but sadly it's not developed further.

 

[Professor Donger]

Wyświetl załącznik 9251076

 

[MIU]

Man, gotta wait for a friend before starting the GitS remake but I am very curious. I hope it'll be as good as the Mamoru Oshii film, but in it's own way. But now I'm hearing shit about lesbians and I am getting worried

 

[Professor Donger]

But now I'm hearing shit about lesbians and I am getting worried

In the Manga the Major was "Bi" specifically because the author tried his absolute hardest to avoid drawing dudes naked if he could avoid it

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

GiTS has always been, at least for me, 'babies first dystopia' for anime fans, similar to Akira for normies.

Do you feel this way because you think both GitS and Akira are bad gateway anime when it comes to presenting the notion of a dystopia ? Is a dystopia itself a trope you dislike ? Or is any gateway anime just bad because it is a gateway for people to delve deeper into anime ?

I also dislike when a series is know for some kind of philosophical debate instead of the story itself, I find it pretentious

Do you prefer your anime without any philosophical musing, or should it be a particular type of philosophy like Stoicism or Daoism ? Is story the most important part of an anime for you and everything else is secondary (characters, animation, music etc.) and any other qualities become meaningless if the story is not the focus ?

Edit: Why pretentious ? And any anime/manga that isn't pretentious in comparison to GitS ?

And there's also the lesbianism part; I had my share of IRL lesbians being dicks and I'm not fond of faggotry even if it's women.

That's of course your opinion but is still a weird "criticism" considering that the lesbian stuff is most prominent in the manga for three pages and otherwise more or less a detail in the background in SAC for example. Not to mention that Motoko is Bi if you want to be really pedantic about it. And in the first movie it is nonexistent. Or is this like a deeply personal pet peeve that colors your opinion in regard to the entire manga/series ?

 

[Red Dragon]

Do you feel this way because you think both GitS and Akira are bad gateway anime when it comes to presenting the notion of a dystopia ? Is a dystopia itself a trope you dislike ? Or is any gateway anime just bad because it is a gateway for people to delve deeper into anime ?

Being a gateway and/or about dystopias is not a problem. The issue with gateways (about anything) is the people that never delve further and don't shut up about it, not the work itself. I don't think GiTS is bad, I just never wanted to watch it - but I do think Akira is overrated and an overall mess.

Do you prefer your anime without any philosophical musing, or should it be a particular type of philosophy like Stoicism or Daoism ? Is story the most important part of an anime for you and everything else is secondary (characters, animation, music etc.) and any other qualities become meaningless if the story is not the focus ?

If it's not front and center, more mature and deep themes are welcome, but it's anime at the end of the day. My issue here is how everytime someone recommended GiTS to me, it was described as this deep work about humanity and whatnot (btw I'm not talking about this thread, this happened both IRL and on other forums a long time ago). If I want philosophy I'd rather read a book. To makes things worse, Lain has always been recommended to me in the same manner; maybe I'm traumatized by the "I only watch mature anime" crowd!

I don't dismember anime like that, even simple stories with simple characters are enough. And since I'm an oldfag, bad animation is not an issue.

That's of course your opinion but is still a weird "criticism"

I'm not gonna powerlevel to explain it, but it basically sours the character for me. But I didn't know it's not a prevalent thing, I imagined it was something brought up all the time.

 

[DocAwe]

As stated Motoko being BI is because Shiro didn't want to draw naked dudes.
In other adaptions (Arise) Motoko has a relationship with a man.

 

[Oddjob OTP]

Man, gotta wait for a friend before starting the GitS remake but I am very curious. I hope it'll be as good as the Mamoru Oshii film, but in it's own way. But now I'm hearing shit about lesbians and I am getting worried

There's a few people in this thread dedicated to kvetching about a lesbian scene that takes place in 1-2 pages that got cut out of the international version because it has no relation to the plot. Masamune Shirow is pretty well known for doing full color pin ups and because he stopped making full manga due to his studio getting yeeted in an earthquake and taking care of his parents/his own poor health it's most of how he's made a living for the past 25 years. If the uncensored version of this makes it into this adaptation expect boobs to be on screen for <10s

As stated Motoko being BI is because Shiro didn't want to draw naked dudes.
In other adaptions (Arise) Motoko has a relationship with a man.

She has a boyfriend in Section 2 (?) that she shares an apartment with in the original manga

 

[DocAwe]

There's a few people in this thread dedicated to kvetching about a lesbian scene that takes place in 1-2 pages that got cut out of the international version because it has no relation to the plot. Masamune Shirow is pretty well known for doing full color pin ups and because he stopped making full manga due to his studio getting yeeted in an earthquake and taking care of his parents/his own poor health it's most of how he's made a living for the past 25 years. If the uncensored version of this makes it into this adaptation expect boobs to be on screen for <10s


She has a boyfriend in Section 2 (?) in the manga that she shares an apartment with in the original manga

Yeah, look at Ironton Depot art books.
More questionable content there.
But not as questionable as that show his name is attached to, Pandora in the Crimson Shell or something.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I forgot to add that the issue with Bakugo is that the story skipped straight to Todoroki, who is the top student, so there is never a conclusion to his feud.

From there the only question is whether he'll be Cell saga Vegeta or Majin Buu saga Vegeta.

Superheroes are the jujuest goyslop capeshit entertainment so that is a backhanded compliment I guess.

Invented as slop propaganda for goys. Even the pokeymans and starwarsfags needed a kid to bully I guess.

Don't buy the Michael Moore propaganda. Superheroes are great and show us the best of humanity that it can strive to without enslaving yourself to the government and corporations for power.

 

[DocAwe]

There's a few people in this thread dedicated to kvetching about a lesbian scene that takes place in 1-2 pages that got cut out of the international version because it has no relation to the plot. Masamune Shirow is pretty well known for doing full color pin ups and because he stopped making full manga due to his studio getting yeeted in an earthquake and taking care of his parents/his own poor health it's most of how he's made a living for the past 25 years. If the uncensored version of this makes it into this adaptation expect boobs to be on screen for <10s


She has a boyfriend in Section 2 (?) that she shares an apartment with in the original manga

Derp.
I forgot.

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

The issue with gateways (about anything) is the people that never delve further and don't shut up about it, not the work itself.

Fair enough, but I don't even think GitS the worst in this regard. You mentioned Dragon Ball earlier, and I think that this issue applies to a lot of people especially when it comes to the most popular/gateway stuff like Naruto, AoT, Akira, Lain,One Piece, Cowboy Bebop GitS of course and so on. But I understand what's grinding your gears with this.

I don't think GiTS is bad, I just never wanted to watch it

Sorry I had to laugh here. It sounded like someone forced you to watch it at gunpoint, but I assume it was more like you watched it because people would leave you alone and shut up about it.

but I do think Akira is overrated and an overall mess.

Anime adaptation or the manga ?

My issue here is how everytime someone recommended GiTS to me, it was described as this deep work about humanity and whatnot

Well it is serious and "deep" enough that it is praiseworthy and maybe in comparison to other anime more mature and therefore something people would seek out or be drawn into.
But I can understand if it's a bit too much or takes away from other things and as such takes away from the overall experience.

To makes things worse, Lain has always been recommended to me in the same manner; maybe I'm traumatized by the "I only watch mature anime" crowd!

Yeah, I get it since you have those people everywhere, and I understand why that can negatively impact something before you even have a chance to experience it on your own. But still important to keep an open mind and drown out all the noise.

I'm not gonna powerlevel to explain it, but it basically sours the character for me. But I didn't know it's not a prevalent thing, I imagined it was something brought up all the time.

All good, even if this stems also from a religious or political background its acceptable. It was just odd too me since the muffmunching is a one time occurrence and not something that gets thrown into your face all the time.

As stated Motoko being BI is because Shiro didn't want to draw naked dudes.
In other adaptions (Arise) Motoko has a relationship with a man.

To be really pedantic here, Motoko has a boyfriend in chapter 8 "Dumb Barter" in Vol 1. The lesbomancy happens in Chapter 3 "Junk Jungle" so it in the same Volume and pretty close together. So her being BI is basically established pretty early on.

 

[Red Dragon]

Anime adaptation or the manga ?

The anime, I didn't read the manga. Akira is weird and pretty shocking if you're not used to the media. I guess that's why normies found it interesting.

Sorry I had to laugh here. It sounded like someone forced you to watch it at gunpoint

You laugh, but a friend of mine was basically a hostage in his own home forced to watch that Made in Abyss torture anime by two other friends. He was absolutely pissed off halfway through it... Never agree to watch something together without knowing at least what the show is about. I denied the invitation as soon as they said what they were going to watch.

 

[Oddjob OTP]

If I recall (and it's entirely possible I'm confusing in the SAC-verse Motoko because she's the one with the most developed backstory) the gist of Motoko's sexuality is that she overcompensates sexually because she feels a distance from humanity due to her being a full-body prosthesis cyborg and it's one of the few ways she gets to be "Motoko" and not "The Major" or an asset of the Japanese government.

 

[DocAwe]

Stupid lizard brain.
I know what I'm rereading from the beginning when I get home.

 

[Sleazy Car Salesman]

If I recall (and it's entirely possible I'm confusing in the SAC-verse Motoko because she's the one with the most developed backstory) the gist of Motoko's sexuality is that she overcompensates sexually because she feels a distance from humanity due to her being a full-body prosthesis cyborg and it's one of the few ways she gets to be "Motoko" and not "The Major" or an asset of the Japanese government.

As far as I can remember that was SAC.

 

[Gentlebastard]

From Old Country Bumpkin To Master Swordsman

Its second season is being broadcast this season (Summer 26). No idea where you can find it, or which day it's available, though.

 

[Sleazy Car Salesman]

Its second season is being broadcast this season (Summer 26). No idea where you can find it, or which day it's available, though.

Hey thanks for the heads up. It's actually already on my streaming site of choice with the first episode. Didn't realize it was getting a second season.