General Anime/Manga Discussion 16: In Another Thread With My Smartphone

[LaZodiac]

Just watched the first episode of that, really good. The 4th wall certainly didn't last long.

It's important to remember that Slayers is based on novella's that are literally "I made a story version of our DND campaign" and with that in mind you can feel that energy in every aspect of it. I love it.

It's on the opposite scale of whatever scale Record of Lodoss War is.

[Aotrs Commander]

Watched Maodka episoes 7 through 9.

I had forgotten some of those bits. Ouch, that was a pianful sit.

The thing that gets most though, the Bunny-Cat's sheer, unbridled lack of the slightest of fracks. It it "oh, we don't understand emotions," but its impressive ability to manipulate them makes that a bald-faced lie.

I just...

"Anytime you want to die for the sake of the universe, just call me," it says, right after just saying "yes, we specifically target teenage girls to make them die in emotional distress to use them as batteries."

I cannot articulate.

I really cannot.

It is not EVEN as if, as I wrongly recalled, thier civilisation is even existing close TO the heat-death of the universe, but it's CURRENT. So they are murdering children, basically for NO WORTHWHILE REASON, especially given the phenominal amount of emotional energy they could just get by getting a little from countless numbers across the universe, instead of from a handful on one planet. It's such a STUPID PLAN, it defies even the most BASIC analysis.

I tell you now, if the Aotrs eve encounter something even close to this... Yeah, no, scratch that; if I find anything like it, I ain't even gonna involve the Aotrs, I'll just bring it to the attention of the REALLY big players and then them stomp all over the issues in a way more thorough than I could...

There remains just one more thing to say.

Say with with me folks:

[EXPLETIVE].

YOU.

BUNNY-CAT.

[LaZodiac]

"Anytime you want to die for the sake of the universe, just call me,"

This is the best line in the series.

Anyway, my thoughts on the Incubator's and their belief that emotion is a form of mental illness: I do think they are actually, mostly, telling the truth when they say that. I do believe they are a species bred and beat out almost all emotion out of their civilization. You can still know how to manipulate emotions even if you don't have them, it just causes some minor problems here and there. An example of which BEING Kyubey telling Madoka all of that. Because he doesn't understand, 100%, what effect it will have on her.

I also believe that his race really doesn't have emotion now because it means, at the end, when Madoka does the thing she does, Kyubey is immediately (if temporarily) driven insane by it. Because his reaction to her wish in every version of the series is to get suddenly VERY emotional. And that's just really satisfying to me. Madoka out rules-lawyers a race of rules-lawyers and it's so genuine shocking, and the implications of it all are so unbelievable, that for the briefest of moment, by his species' own definition of it, Kyubet goes insane.

But yeah. Bunny-cat's a ****.

Also as a brief aside, I think any errors of logic in the Incubator's plan are intentional on the point of Kyubey to make it easier to understand (and thus scarier) to Madoka. Gotta rile up that little girl depression juice.

[uncool]

On a side note, while we're on the subject of Madoka:
Does anyone have a guess why Homura is introduced with Conturbatio - Sayaka's theme/leitmotif - as the backing music? I'm a bit obsessed with the wonderful music, and on rewatch, that stood out.

[LaZodiac]

On a side note, while we're on the subject of Madoka:
Does anyone have a guess why Homura is introduced with Conturbatio - Sayaka's theme/leitmotif - as the backing music? I'm a bit obsessed with the wonderful music, and on rewatch, that stood out.

Dissonance. At that moment in time we don't know why that music is being played, just that it's for something sinister.

I'll admit, I am quite bad at remembering music, so I haven't actually noticed that.

[uncool]

The main reason I can see is that Homura's theme (Puella in somnio) is saved for her standout scene (in the hallway), and they needed another atmospheric, "something's wrong" song, as you said. Still feels a bit odd to use another girl's theme - it weakens the association with Sayaka later.

[Excession]

"Anytime you want to die for the sake of the universe, just call me," it says, right after just saying "yes, we specifically target teenage girls to make them die in emotional distress to use them as batteries."

I feel that we're supposed to conclude that any civilisation that needs to torture and kill young women in order to exist doesn't deserve to continue existing. And then take a hard look at the real world. The show then seems less about making Faustian pacts with demon bunny-cats, and more about exploitation, mental illness, and suicide.

[deuterio12]

I feel that we're supposed to conclude that any civilisation that needs to torture and kill young women in order to exist doesn't deserve to continue existing. And then take a hard look at the real world. The show then seems less about making Faustian pacts with demon bunny-cats, and more about exploitation, mental illness, and suicide.

Kyubey heavily implies that humanity only progressed so far because of magical girls. Sure Madoka and Homura act from the shadows, but past magical girls included the likes of

Spoiler

Show

Cleopatara and Jean D'Arc, which were quite public and may've not lived long but still left huge marks in the world.

That's why at the end Madoka just wishes to mercy-kill all magical girls when they're about to turn into witches instead of removing the system. Because fully removing magical girls may've resulted all of humanity to be back to living in caves dressed in raw skins or worst.

Basically becoming a magical girl is "live fast, die young but you'll have left your mark in the world"

Or in the case of Mami, it was literally "become a magical girl or bleed to death". Or again with Jean D'Arc, she coud've just as easily become another peasant killed in a raid (she actually decides to become a magical girl after half her village gets slaughtered in one of said raids, including her little sister). If you're going out young anyway, may as well do it with magic powers.

[ellenate]

I feel that we're supposed to conclude that any civilisation that needs to torture and kill young women in order to exist doesn't deserve to continue existing. And then take a hard look at the real world. The show then seems less about making Faustian pacts with demon bunny-cats, and more about exploitation, mental illness, and suicide.

huh, so puella magi can be looked at as a meta commentary on japan's idol industry. i never thought if it that way but the symbolism lines up pretty well.

[Excession]

huh, so puella magi can be looked at as a meta commentary on japan's idol industry. i never thought if it that way but the symbolism lines up pretty well.

Maybe not even that direct. In the wake of the KyoAni fire I've heard that it's common in other studios for junior animators to be overworked, paid less than a living wage, and for them to burn out within a few years, only to be replaced by another freshly trained animator willing to work for "passion". Write what you know and all.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

On a side note, while we're on the subject of Madoka:
Does anyone have a guess why Homura is introduced with Conturbatio - Sayaka's theme/leitmotif - as the backing music? I'm a bit obsessed with the wonderful music, and on rewatch, that stood out.

If you want to really go into a reading (which is not necessarily what was intended), you can dig into this a bit.

Spoiler

Show

Sayaka has a pretty strong parallel with Homura, in that Sayaka is an idealist crusader who gets hit with the true darkness of the world. Homura starts out like that, but instead of being crushed in one blow, she gets crushed little by little with every new loop. Sayaka fell faster, but it's the same fall as Homura.

And, while Mami's death is something that Homura desperately tries to avoid, Sayaka's corruption is the big inevitability she's come to accept.

[JCarter426]

So guys, I don't really know anime that well - well enough to know a decent number of genres and stereotypes of those genres, and to have watched much of the mainstream (read: aired on Cartoon Network at some time). I'm looking for the really good series that haven't "crossed over" to the mainstream. Things like PMMM (which I've seen all of) or Steins;Gate (which I'm watching) - I mostly know about them because they've been discussed a lot here. They don't have to be dramas - I'd put Konosuba on the same list, although it's probably not as top-notch.

tl;dr What are some not-quite-mainstream but really good series?

Slayers is great, I'll second that. Shirobako too.

I also liked Seto no Hanayome / My Bride Is A Mermaid so I guess I'll second that too. Some similar supernatural girlfriend-type anime to that are Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan / Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san / Nyaruko: Crawling With Love!, and Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? / Is This a Zombie?. They're all kind of trashy but fully aware and embracing of the trashiness, much like KonoSuba in that respect. Some other good comedies are D-Frag! and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun / Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. Of all of them, I'd probably recommend D-Frag! the most, and it's doubly appropriate since it's about an analogue game club. Not so much roleplaying games, but still in the genre.

Some lesser-known dramas:

• Denpa-teki na Kanojo / Electromagnetic Girlfriend: This a really short OVA about a girl who claims to be a guy's servant from a past life and how one of their classmates is murdered.
• Kokoro Connect: A group of friends deal with various supernatural events that happen to them, such as body swapping and telepathy. A psychological take on how these abilities affect their relationships, plus a mystery as to why these events are happening to them (which is unfortunately not resolved by the anime adaptation, because the story goes on).
• Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches: In a totally normal high school, there are seven girls with various supernatural powers such as body swapping and telepathy (but different from the last time, most assuredly) who don't know how or why they received them. Also, there's a guy named Yamada who's gotta find 'em all. The anime adaptation was kind of rushed since they wanted to wrap up the first story arc and give it a quasi-definitive ending. The manga continues after the anime, and I'd recommend that instead if you'd be up for it, but the anime also works as a self-contained story if you can keep up with the somewhat-rushedness.
• Zetsuen no Tempest / Blast of Tempest: Kind of an atypical shōnen, about a witch stranded on an island in her underwear and two friends who get caught up in her war with a magical cult over how to stop the end of the world. Also, lots of Shakespearean references. It has a similar feel to Steins;Gate, I think, though it may not seem that way on the surface.

[Pendulous]

It's so hard to know when it come to anime what is and isn't more mainstream. There's the basic stuff like DBZ and other similar shows, and anything seen on national TV, Toonami and whatnot. But that's about it. So to determine what to suggest based off western popularity is hard. People who are into more genres and more stuff other than that will think a lot of shows are too well-known to be suggested. That said, I could compile a list of stuff through the genres I'm a fan of.

Comedy:

Three Leaves, Three Colors - Pure comedy with three different girls hanging out. Talk mostly about food and cats. This type of humor, to me, is what you would be into if you're into more sitcom style shows. (dub)

Gabriel Dropout - I like seeing characters break stereotype. And seeing Gabriel be just the slothiest angel ever is just a good time. (no dub)

Gonna be the Twintail - Don't know why people don't like this. This show knows what it is. Basically a parody of sentai type shows. (dub)

Mitsuboshi Colors - Three nine year old girls just screwing around? How could that be funny? I don't know man, but it is. (dub)

Working!! - Could also include this in romance, but it's largely a workplace comedy. Something that anime doesn't have too much of. The gags never got old, and the characters are all likable, and sometimes relateable. (no dub)

Good Luck Girl - Coleen Clinkenbeard's performance makes this show for me, but this show is high energy comedy, with tons of fourth wall breaking and references. And they give heart to what should be an unlikable character, and can even give you some tears. (dub)

The Devil's A Part-Timer - Waifus, Satan, and McDonald's. All you really need to know. (dub)

Yona of the Dawn - This show really could fit into a lot of categories. A fantasy story about a cloistered princess who's forced to go out and see her kingdom after her father gets killed. One of those "where's the rest?" stories, but what is there is fantastic. (dub)

Romance:

Kamisama Kiss - Nanami is adorable, and Tomoe is a rare male tsundere. Also lots of comedy. (dub)

Kimi ni Todoke - I'm a sucker for a girl who's antisocial/shy, or otherwise has no friends, and earns them. Sawako has been teased all her life for looking like the ghost girl from The Ring, and she's gotten by by just being alone. A lot of dialogue in this show is her internal thoughts, so a heads up if that's something that is a turn off. Season 2 was disappointing, but season 1 is among my favorite shows. (no dub)

Mayo Chiki - A show with a lot of heart despite coming across as a silly comedy. Disregard the harem tag, it's irrelevant. Another girl who avoids others and has no friends, so there's that. (dub)

Recovery of an MMO Junkie - Adorable Christmas Cake. Fun MMO. Adult romantic comedy. It's short, but a good time. Also another relateable one. (dub)

Okami-san and Her Seven Companions - A lot of your enjoyment of this show will hinge on how you feel about the narrator. A lot of people don't like her, but I had no issues. (dub)

Sakura Trick - Cute girls in a comedy who kiss each other, kind of a lot. Surprisingly wholesome despite that. (no dub)

B Gata H Kei - More comedy than romance, and a great one at that. Plot synopsis is misleading, don't let it fool you. Just a girl who doesn't know how relationships work, trying to get through one.

Fuuka - The anime was changed to fit a story inside a single cour, and as a result a lot of people didn't like it. Reading up on the story in the manga, it's incredibly stupid, so I call it a win. Also some of the best music in anime. (dub)

Hi Score Girl - May not be quite as good if you're not into classic video games. Haruo and Oono's relationship is solid, but a large part of the show hinges on arcades. Nice that they somehow were able to show actual versions of every game ever. (dub)

Snow White with the Red Hair - Shirayuki might be the best female protagonist. Super chill, very smart. Show could almost be considered slice of life fantasy, but it pulls off a growing relationship very well. (dub)

Toradora - It's typically seen as the best romantic comedy for a reason. taiga is much more deep than people realize, and is far and away the best tsundere I've seen. (dub)

ReLIFE - Overtaking Toradora for my favorite romance, ReLIFE also adds a great blend of drama and comedy. Also includes my favorite anime girl, Chizuru. Another girl who doesn't have friends, go figure. (dub)

Say I Love You - See a pattern with these girls? Difference here is, while Mei is a lone wolf, she also doesn't take crap from anyone, and isn't afraid to speak up.

Slice of Life (largely includes comedy):

Shounen Maid - Another misleading plot synopsis. No weirdness here. Kid who lost his mother goes to live with a distant uncle. Very heartwarming, and can also make you cry. (dub)

Love Live franchise - If you go into this thinking of a school club show, then people who just see "lol idols" may be able to get past it. There's a lot of characters and a lot of fun times for both groups. Oddly, while I like the music, my favorite song comes from neither band, but another that appears in Sunshine. (dub)

K-On! - This show is special to me for personal reasons, so I might be biased. But there's a reason it popularized the genre. Also got me into anime music in general. (dub)

Hanayamata - I think of this as a bit of K-On mixed with Love Live. The characters and their personalities of K-On, and the "keep moving forward" determination feeling of Love Live. (dub)

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid - A {Scrubbed} dragon, an oppai dragon, a SUPER oppai dragon, and a straight man human in between it all. (dub)

Hyouka - Prime KyoAni animation, mixed with four great characters. The "mysteries" are all pretty household, but the characters still make them all intriguing. (dub)

Hitoribocchi - A recent show, but it made an immediate impact. Taking a shy but determined character and making it realistic but also making it funny without feeling insulting in anyway. (no dub)

Is the Order a Rabbit? - A slice of life show in a not-traditional Japanese town is a nice change of pace. It's genuinely funny, and very pretty. Two seasons, a movie, and a third season on the way. (no dub)

Flying Witch - Super comfy show about a witch who moves to a small town to live with extended family. Magic in this show is very tied to nature, and it's all wholesome and lighthearted. (dub)

New Game! - Great cast of characters, good comedy, a progressing story. Another great shy character in Hifumi. Also another workplace comedy. (dub)

Yuru Camp - The comfiest comfy show that every comfed. Beautifully presented, with a pair of characters that steal the show. Mega popularity in japan has given it an upcoming movie and second season. (no dub)

Yama no Susume - Typically seen as "Yuru Camp light" despite coming first. This one feels hard to get into because season 1 is twelve three-minute episodes. Season 2 is not legally available anywhere (except the OVA, which is a must-watch), but it's 24 half-episodes, and carries the bulk of the content. Season 3 is twelve half-episodes. (no dub)

Castle Town Dandelion - Nine royal siblings all with a superpowers. Another great shy lead in Akane. The show seems to struggle at times to tell the story of all the main cast in the limited time frame, but it works out. (dub)

Manaria Friends - This short spinoff has amazing presentation, and tells a story well with limited dialogue. Two princesses fight to spend time together outside of class in a magic school. (dub)

Isekai:

Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They? - If you've heard of No Game, No Life, this show has a very similar feel. Kids get sent to another world to compete in games, and there's an aspect of taking over territories. in this show's case, they have legit superpowers. Good comedy and good fun, but sadly more of a prologue for the rest of the story that is and will never be animated. (dub)

Grimgar - Even if you don't like isekai, or have never seen any but aren't interested, I would suggest Grimgar. The idea of being in another world is irrelevant, and it's a very realistic concept of survival in an unusual world without any skills. (dub)

Konosuba - Certainly the most well-known isekai of recent times, with good reason. It's lewd, it's a group of pretty terrible people, but it is highly entertaining. (dub, season 1 only so far)

In Another World with My Smartphone - Hmm, sounds familiar. Most don't like this show. I did. Yes, it is very wish fulfillment. But if you go into it as more a slice of life, it can be fun. Also nice to see how Touya uses magic to implement modern ideas into this fantasy world. (dub)

Drama:

A Place Further than the Universe - Not exactly listed as drama, but it doesn't really fit anywhere else. This show will most definitely make you laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. beautiful story, beautiful art, beautiful music, beautiful everything. (no dub)

Erased - Best mom in anime, that is all (note: I have not watched Wolf Children) (dub)

Kono Oto Tomare - Not sure why this show's English Title is "Sounds of Life" but whatever. Character development for days. Unfortunately split-cour, so gotta wait until Fall to see the rest. (dub)

Skip Beat - Another show with a good mix of comedy and drama. Another show with amazing character development. Another show that ends at the worst possible time. (dub)

March Comes in Like a Lion - Didn't love this show as much as I expected to. The shogi stuff is hard to follow since I don't read Japanese. While I feel very related to Rei in terms of depression, and can even see a lot of the symbolism involved, a lot of the episodes drag on with nothing going on. Also season 1 spends too much time on Rei and not enough on his sort-of-but-not-exaclty-inhereted family. Season 3 is a must. (dub)

AnoHana - Only watched this show recently, and was worried about the hype from people I talk to. It lived up to it, in spades. Super emotional, and a great story. (dub)

Harem:

Monster Musume - Yes, it is very much about the lewd and the boobs. But is also a good comedy. (dub)

High School DxD - Yes, also about the boobs, in so many ways. Show can get repetitive with the "we can't win, oh no wait, we have this new skill". So it can largely be a waifu generator, but it also has a lot of fun times. (dub)

Haganai - Just a really funny show. As long as you're ok with two girls torturing each other. (dub)

Sports:

Bamboo Blade - Really just made this section for this one show. It's largely a character comedy, with some kendo throw in (...moreso sports than Little Busters though, don't get me wrong). Another shy yet nice and proficient main girl in Tamaki. A fun bubbly, yet also talented genki girl in Kirino. (dub)

[cobaltstarfire]

So guys, I don't really know anime that well - well enough to know a decent number of genres and stereotypes of those genres, and to have watched much of the mainstream (read: aired on Cartoon Network at some time). I'm looking for the really good series that haven't "crossed over" to the mainstream. Things like PMMM (which I've seen all of) or Steins;Gate (which I'm watching) - I mostly know about them because they've been discussed a lot here. They don't have to be dramas - I'd put Konosuba on the same list, although it's probably not as top-notch.

tl;dr What are some not-quite-mainstream but really good series?

Tsurune is pretty good, and pretty short as well. It's a sports/highschool club anime about Kyudo (Japanese archery with a long bow) where the main character suffers from target panic. (His release is too fast). If you do end up watching it all the way through, it has no stingers except for the last episode and its a pretty good little stinger (episode 13, not the OVA which is treated like a 14th episode on crunchyroll).

It's beautiful, fairly relaxing, has bits of humor sprinkled throughout, and a bit of drama and philosophy. It's also apparently a reasonably realistic depiction of Kyudo according to my instructor. Some people find it to be too slow though. The only sports/club anime I have watched are K-On, Sound!Euphonium, and Hikaru no Go, so I can't really say I know the typical tropes for this kind of anime, but some people did complain about certain personality and story tropes showing up. May not be much of a problem if you aren't terribly familiar with anime to begin with.

Either way it is the most memorable anime I've seen in a while that hasn't already been mentioned.


I'd also recommend the animated remakes of Space Battleship Yamato. The two seasons sit in a niche similar to Star Trek but with more of an overarching plot for the most part.

[Rynjin]

Watch Space Dandy. He's a dandy guy, in space.

[Battleship789]

I guess I'll cover some of the more actiony series, as Pendulous has most of the other stuff covered, alongside some of my own favorites.

Romance/Comedy
Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-Kun: A goofy romcom where a high school girl asks out her crush only for him to think she was asking for his autograph, as he is a Shojo manga artist/writer. Hilarity ensues. (dub)

Sports
Kuroko no Basket: Basketball anime with typical genre conventions, but is still excellent. Characters do have larger-than-life abilities, but mostly in a "push a normal ability to 11" theme. Ex: one character can shoot 3's really well...to the point that he doesn't miss. Overall, a fun ride with great animation, especially during the final arc. Honestly, I'm surprised that this still hasn't gotten a western dub. (no dub)

Haikyu!!: Volleyball anime that is fairly well grounded in reality. Characters are fun and the teams that oppose the MCs feel like actual people instead of villainous caricatures that must be beaten. (no dub)

Eyeshield 21: An older anime about American Football. Unlike the previous two series, it tells reality to take a hike. A goofy but fun show, though the animation was not great when it came out and has not aged well. (no dub)

Yowamushi Pedal: Fairly by the book sports anime about Cycling. Does a good job exploring the various characters and their motivations. (no dub)

Science Fiction
Psycho Pass: Near future society, you follow a bunch of detectives who solve violent crimes in a world where everyone's mental state is constantly monitored and given a numerical score, called your Crime Coefficient. 1st season is absolutely amazing, 2nd much less so. (Dub)

Knights of Sidonia: Typical mecha fair, but the setting is pretty interesting. Lots of CGI, and it isn't implemented very well, but you might be able to get over it. 2nd season was a bit of a downer from the first. (Dub)

Planetes: Now, I've never seen this show, but I've heard it is fantastic. Somewhat into the near future, mankind has explored more of the solar system. However, this has caused a ton of space debris to build up in Earth's atmosphere, so one job is to collect the debris in orbit and either sell them for salvage or let them burn up in the atmosphere. Fairly hard sci-fi. (no dub)

World Trigger: Aliens (called Neighbors) invaded Japan 5 years ago but were repelled by a mysterious organization called Border. Story revolves around squads of Border agents and their relationships with each other and the Neighbors. Excellent characters and story are mired by poor CGI and animation. (no dub)

Fantasy
Fate/Zero: When the powers align, a contest is held between mage families. 7 mages summon powerful servants from history/mythology to do battle for the ultimate prize: a wish from the Holy Grail. Of the various Fate series' entries, this is (in my opinion) by far the best iteration. The fanservice is kept to a minimum, the characters and story are excellent, and the animation is good. One can always consume more of the setting if desired, but there is a noticeable drop in overall quality for the other entries, imo. (dub) Does anything Fate count as mainstream nowadays?

Isekai
Overlord: An isekai where the MC is stuck inside a MMORPG (the author has explicitly mentioned that the game is based on a D&D campaign) as his end game Lich wizard character and holds court over his guild's base of operations. The story revolves around the MC and his relationship with his friend's creations, a group of powerful NPC characters that have become real with motivations and desires. A power fantasy to be sure, but there is some interesting exploration of the fallout for an epic level wizard in a world where the allegedly strongest fighter in the world is maybe 10th level, as well as the loss of the MC's humanity. (dub)

Log Horizon: Another isekai about an MMORPG, where the setting and mechanics actually feel like an MMORPG! Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the series as the pacing is dreadful and the story is meandering, but quite a few people enjoy it over similar fare, so I'll include it. (no dub)

[John Cribati]

I can't believe I forgot to mention Nozaki-kun. Top tier comedy.

[Cozzer]

I'll add two of my personal favorites:

Mob Psycho 100 (Action, Comedy): from the same author as One Punch Man, the story of a middle-school kid learning to deal with his emotions, growing up and the city-shattering supernatural powers he's been repressing for years. Also the story of his mentor, a good-hearted conman who apparently has it all figured out, and actually has exactly nothing figured out.

Honey and Clover (Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Drama): from the same author as March Comes In Like a Lion, the story of five Japanese art college students and one of their teachers. The romance part is... very Japanese, and could be better, I admit. However, as the story of a group of twentysomethings trying to find out who they are and what their place in the world is, it's great.

[Silfir]

I have seen Planetes, and I can confirm it's an excellent show. You don't often get to see hard science fiction like it. There are no FTL drives or aliens; it's a show about 21st century humanity gradually expanding out into the solar system. The kind of stuff that might actually happen in our lifetimes.

The main character is a young woman who just found her first job - as an office worker for the company running the space station orbiting the Earth. Unfortunately, she got a job with the division at the very bottom of the office hierarchy - space debris retrieval. Much like the IT department of your typical Earthbound company, they do an absolutely crucial job (junk within Earth orbit has the potential of bringing space travel entirely to a halt if it isn't diligently cleaned up), but they don't generate profits, so nobody cares about them. In the beginning the show focuses on the debris retrieval division (filled with misfits and malcontents) and their various antics and challenges, and branches out in the later half, as the characters get caught up in bigger picture political stuff that I shouldn't spoil ahead of time - let's just say things get a lot more serious.

This show is a hard recommend if you're into science fiction, and you prefer Star Trek to Star Wars, but wish it was more realistic. In addition to all its other qualities, it's quite humorous (when things are not dead serious), and it has a cute romantic subplot.

[Excession]

Yuru Camp - The comfiest comfy show that every comfed. Beautifully presented, with a pair of characters that steal the show. Mega popularity in japan has given it an upcoming movie and second season. (no dub)

Just binged the whole thing, it's like some sort of comfy drug. Thanks for the recommendation.

Log Horizon: Another isekai about an MMORPG, where the setting and mechanics actually feel like an MMORPG! Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the series as the pacing is dreadful and the story is meandering, but quite a few people enjoy it over similar fare, so I'll include it. (no dub)

I have watched the first season of Log Horizon. It was nice to see a "trapped in a game" series that actually looked like a real game. Next I want something where the main characters actually act like real people at some point. It also felt like the writer was making it up as they went along, especially the first few episodes of season 2, which didn't help.

[ellenate]

It was nice to see a "trapped in a game" series that actually looked like a real game. Next I want something where the main characters actually act like real people at some point.

Lol. Watch Gantz then.

I have seen Planetes, and I can confirm it's an excellent show. You don't often get to see hard science fiction like it. There are no FTL drives or aliens; it's a show about 21st century humanity gradually expanding out into the solar system. The kind of stuff that might actually happen in our lifetimes.

The main character is a young woman who just found her first job - as an office worker for the company running the space station orbiting the Earth. Unfortunately, she got a job with the division at the very bottom of the office hierarchy - space debris retrieval. Much like the IT department of your typical Earthbound company, they do an absolutely crucial job (junk within Earth orbit has the potential of bringing space travel entirely to a halt if it isn't diligently cleaned up), but they don't generate profits, so nobody cares about them. In the beginning the show focuses on the debris retrieval division (filled with misfits and malcontents) and their various antics and challenges, and branches out in the later half, as the characters get caught up in bigger picture political stuff that I shouldn't spoil ahead of time - let's just say things get a lot more serious.

This show is a hard recommend if you're into science fiction, and you prefer Star Trek to Star Wars, but wish it was more realistic. In addition to all its other qualities, it's quite humorous (when things are not dead serious), and it has a cute romantic subplot.

The attention to detail in that show is amazing but you have to be really be invested into the characters.

Psycho Pass: Near future society, you follow a bunch of detectives who solve violent crimes in a world where everyone's mental state is constantly monitored and given a numerical score, called your Crime Coefficient. 1st season is absolutely amazing, 2nd much less so. (Dub)

I didn't hate it but i still don't know what all the fuss was about. It felt like a typical futuristic cop story.

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i wish it had more cases before it nosedived into the climax

[Pendulous]

Log Horizon: Another isekai about an MMORPG, where the setting and mechanics actually feel like an MMORPG! Overall, I'm not a huge fan of the series as the pacing is dreadful and the story is meandering, but quite a few people enjoy it over similar fare, so I'll include it. (no dub)

I haven't seen it, but Log Horizon definitely has a dub.

I should add in the franchise of "Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon". It's a fun fantasy story that sort of brings some D&D elements to its world, with deities leading guilds, and officially "leveling up". I think I liked the spinoff a bit more than the original, so I'm c urious if the second season will advance Lefiya's and the rest of the Loki guild's story along with Bel and Hestia.

[tyckspoon]

I haven't seen it, but Log Horizon definitely has a dub.

I should add in the franchise of "Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon". It's a fun fantasy story that sort of brings some D&D elements to its world, with deities leading guilds, and officially "leveling up". I think I liked the spinoff a bit more than the original, so I'm c urious if the second season will advance Lefiya's and the rest of the Loki guild's story along with Bel and Hestia.

Also, while the protagonist does end up picking up a harem (it's in the 'unwitting dork has a lot of girls fall for him because' variety) it's nowhere near as sleazy as the title makes it sound. Mostly pretty cute.

[Rynjin]

Ooh, great "non-mainstream anime" for you: Kaiji. Series is ****ing excellent. You'll never be more riveted by one guy sitting in a chair and sweating bullets.

It's a gambling anime, or more accurately THE gambling anime, the standard by which all others are measured to and found wanting.

[LaZodiac]

Ooh, great "non-mainstream anime" for you: Kaiji. Series is ****ing excellent. You'll never be more riveted by one guy sitting in a chair and sweating bullets.

It's a gambling anime, or more accurately THE gambling anime, the standard by which all others are measured to and found wanting.

I'll grant that only because Liar Game doesn't have an anime.

[Pendulous]

Also, while the protagonist does end up picking up a harem (it's in the 'unwitting dork has a lot of girls fall for him because' variety) it's nowhere near as sleazy as the title makes it sound. Mostly pretty cute.

Eh, is it really a harem though? He likes Ais, but there's not really any direct indication that it's a romantic interest, more of a rival type thing. Hestia of course wants that sweet sweet Bel. And I think Syr does too? I wouldn't really call that a harem. Pretty sure Lefiya hates him, or at the very least has zero interest in him. It's about as much a harem as Mayo Chiki, which, as far as the anime got, isn't even at all.

[Excession]

Eh, is it really a harem though? He likes Ais, but there's not really any direct indication that it's a romantic interest, more of a rival type thing. Hestia of course wants that sweet sweet Bel. And I think Syr does too? I wouldn't really call that a harem. Pretty sure Lefiya hates him, or at the very least has zero interest in him. It's about as much a harem as Mayo Chiki, which, as far as the anime got, isn't even at all.

While Bell only has eyes for Ais, he does have a few people after him: Hestia, Lili, Syr, and Apollo for sure, and Eina, Ryuu, Welf, and Freya at least as possibilities. The series is trashy, but I kind of like it anyway. It's not pure fan-service and there's actually an interesting setting and story there as well.

[Ibrinar]

Watching Dr Stone currently and does anyone else find Yuzuha weird looking?

[LaZodiac]

Watching Dr Stone currently and does anyone else find Yuzuha weird looking?

A lot of the lady designs in Dr Stone are... bad. It comes with the territory of the artist being a former eroge artist. The last series he did was Sun-Ken Rock or however it's spelt, and it's um... absurd on that aspect.

[ellenate]

A lot of the lady designs in Dr Stone are... bad. It comes with the territory of the artist being a former eroge artist. The last series he did was Sun-Ken Rock or however it's spelt, and it's um... absurd on that aspect.

By "bad", do you mean overly sexual?

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in regards to anime, i don't think that's a really big sin