#and it's so sad and hard to see dub players not get the same Yuri experience simply bc... they don't even know

[goldentigerfestival]

I love the vocal nuance in this exchange, but also posting this for my differences posts because this is one of the changes that infuriates me the most. Yuri didn't threaten Ioder, did not threaten him with a weapon, and just said he'd punch him in a lazy, half joking voice (half joking as in, he really doesn't want to hear that - that's just his way of saying so; but that's not the voice of someone who is super angry and threatening).

My other huge grievance is that this is a recurring issue between them in the dub. Yuri is pretty much always vocally rude to Ioder. Ioder has done nothing to wrong him or anyone and has only ever done good for the people where he's able to.

Yet despite Ioder being nothing but sincere, honest and polite with Yuri, in fact even happy to see him here and there, dub Yuri is outright tonally rude to him leading right up this scene where he threatens Ioder in this dark voice. Meanwhile he's actually just supposed to be… lazily telling Ioder he'll punch him in his Yuri Lowell way of saying "I don't want to hear that".

The dub really just wanted to turn Yuri into this dark edgelord and I hate that for my goofy, silly boy.

[teababe27]

Notes From the 2019 Myanimelist.net Challenges - Part 1: Anime

Health problems have laid me up a little, but now I’m finally posting this.

As you can tell by the title, this is a post in the vein of last year’s notes about the Myanimelist.net Anime Watching and Manga Reading Challenges. While I didn’t complete everything by the deadline, I had some fun with it and saw/read some good things, some okay things, some things I’ve been meaning to watch anyway, and some things I probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for this challenge.

This post will deal with the anime side. Part 2, dealing with the manga side, will come soon.

I will mention some notables/honorable mentions and then some of my favorite things I watched for this challenge.

Let’s do this.

Honorable Mentions/Other Notables: Millennium Actress - completed for the task “Watch an award-winning anime”

Two filmmakers interview Chiyoko, a retired, reclusive actress from long ago. She brings the two filmmakers through her memories.

As far as I’m concerned, anything Satoshi Kon does is great. A movie with an interesting concept and an interesting art style. I teared up a little at the end, ngl.

RIP Satoshi Kon.

My Neighbor Totoro - completed for the task “Watch an original anime”

Two little girls move to a house in the countryside with their father. While at the house, they discover forest spirits and go on adventures with them.

As expected from Studio Ghibli, the art is gorgeous. The story was fun. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t seen this until now.

While not my favorite Miyazaki movie, this was still beautiful and also fucking adorable.

It was also pretty cool to hear the Fanning sisters in early roles.

Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They? - completed for the task “Watch an anime in which your favorite character’s voice actor participated”

Three kids, each with a different special ability, are whisked away to a world called Little Garden. They are called upon by Kurousagi (Black Rabbit in the English dub) to win “Gift Games” and help the community regain its former glory and resources after a demon took them away.

I’d put this under the group of “Things i probably wouldn’t have watched if not for this challenge”.

I’m not normally into isekai anime (I feel it’s been way overdone lately), but I had fun with this. I honestly didn’t like a couple of the characters at first, but then I realized it was kinda the point. They did get better, though.

Automatic props for having Josh Grelle in there voicing one of the titular problem children.

I had fun with this one overall.

Aoi Bungaku Series - completed for the task “Watch an anime with more than 16 minutes in total and tagged as Mystery, Psychological, and/or Thriller”

An anthology adapting several classic Japanese books and stories.

This anime was different than a lot of what I have watched before. Bleak as hell a lot of the time (especially in the first story), but I found this anime interesting. I might try and read the books that these stories were based on.

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor - completed for the task “Watch an anime suggested by Myanimelist or Anime+”

Justy Ueki Tylor is a bit of a lazy bum. He signs up to join the space military because he wants to live a relatively easy life and get a good pension when he retires. Through sheer charisma and dumb luck, he helps diffuse a hostage situation, leading him to be promoted to Captain of a ship with a bad reputation. An evil space empire and higher-ups looking to get rid of Tylor are also involved.

I found this show funny, but I also feel like this is one you need to be in the mood for. That being said, this was a fun watch.

A lot of zany hijinks and watching Tylor get by through sheer luck and charisma. Gave me some mixed feelings at times.

I have a weakness for things that came out in the 90s, as I grew up with that animation style and shows from that time period. As such, it was very cool to hear voice actors from my childhood, like Rachel Lillis and Lisa Ortiz, in this anime. (I was internally going “OMG it’s Misty!!” every time Yuriko talked.)

Favorites from the Challenge:

Hanayamata - completed for the task “Watch an anime that began airing between 2010 and 2015″

An ordinary student, Naru, wants nothing more than to be pretty and dazzling like in her fairy tale books. One day, she meets a mysterious girl, Hana, who dances with her one night. Hana turns out to be an American transfer student who ends up transferring into Naru’s class. Hana then introduces Naru to Yosakoi dancing and forms the Yosakoi club.

I thought this was a cute and fun slice-of-life anime. Premise can be a bit iffy if you really think about it, but I had fun with this show. I love how everyone slowly opened up with each other and was able to make their club work.

Also, I couldn’t help but have this thought: I feel like the first couple episodes had so much lesbian subtext that I had to check if this anime was made by KyoAni (it wasn’t, it’s made by Madhouse).

Tatami Galaxy - completed for the task “Watch a Noitamina anime”

A third-year college student runs into a mysterious guy at a ramen shop. The student reflects on his past 2 years at college, mostly spent with his friend Ozu trying to break up happy couples. The student wonders if he’s wasted his life and resolves to do better. Then a time loop starts happening and more chances arrive.

*clasps hands like Gendo Ikari*

We meet again, Masaki Yuasa.

No better time than this challenge to work through more of Masaki Yuasa’s filmography, especially after watching the decent Mind Game and the excellent Kaiba for last year’s challenge.

While watching this anime, I felt myself going back and forth on whether or not I really liked this anime. Whether it was overrated or underrated. Whether it was a good idea on what the Endless 8 could have been or something that kept going unnecessarily long because the Student couldn’t see what was in front of his face. Whether it was style over substance.

The answer?

Yes.

I honestly liked it, but I do understand the criticism. I feel like the confusion about my feelings can be a good thing and this anime still had some great points and made me think.

I also thought the art style and soundtrack were great, as usual from Masaki Yuasa.

One Outs - completed for the task “Watch an active staff member’s favorite anime with 10 episodes or more”

A struggling baseball team recruits Tokuchi Towa, a pitcher who is more of a gambler than anything. Kojima, the team’s veteran player, hopes that Tokuchi will lead them to the championship. Corrupt ownership and unethical opponents also add problems.

Tokuchi was a great character. He’s a genius, but also a huge troll. His method is basically trying to psychologically get to the other players and go from there. I liked seeing him work through situations and outsmart people. This was one of the few anime from the challenge where I could watch several episodes in one sitting and not even realize it.

Basically, this was a take on sports anime I didn’t know I needed.

Aggressive Retsuko (aka Aggretsuko) - Season 1 completed for the task “Watch an ONA,” Season 2 completed for the task “Watch an anime with more than 16 minutes in total and a popularity lower than #700″

Retsuko, a red panda, is an average office worker. Unfortunately, she hates her job. She is harassed by her boss and given unreasonable amounts of work. To relieve the stress from her life, she secretly goes to karaoke and sings death metal to scream everything out.

I love this. I love Retsuko. I love the little songs sprinkled in. I love Retsuko’s relationships with several of her office-mates.

I feel like I can relate so hard. Not necessarily with the heavy work load, but just the general stresses of life in your 20s. Being stuck in a job that isn’t the best, and also liking metal.

I had a ton of fun with this show. Season 1 was slightly better than Season 2, but I loved this show all the same.

Girls’ Last Tour - completed for the task “Watch an anime that finished airing with more than 10 episodes and has a synopsis by MAL Rewrite”

In a post-apocalyptic, war-torn landscape, two girls, Chito and Yuri, travel the world for answers, with only their motorbike/tank, their supplies, and each other.

This, by far, wins Best of the Challenge this year.

This anime gave me a mix of emotions that I don’t know if I’ve ever felt before. A strange mix of existential dread and sadness and going “aww” at the slice-of-life adventures the two girls have. It made me laugh, made me cry, and made me think.

Watch this one, please.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Nanbaka 17 | ACCA 3 | ReLIFE 7 - 13 (FINAL) | D Gray Man Hallow 2 - 6

(Nanbaka 17)

I bet the fandom makes, “Something is breaking. It’s my heart,” jokes from now on. Or something similar to that. Fandom is corny like that.

I only just realised, but the green numbers that appear at the start of the OP are cell 13’s prisoner numbers. D’oh.

Couldn’t you just grab the shackles, Rock?

Chibi Hajime? Never seen that one before.

It just occurred to me that Qi may have done this.

There seems to be a patch of purple on Jyugo’s torso…for some reason.

Upa did it…?

Hey, that Bruce Lee quote came back…! There also seems to be a Bungou Stray Dogs vibe going on, not really being helped by the fact Yuto Uemura is Atsushi and Jyugo. Tsukumo is Yuri from Yuri on Ice, which is kinda funny.

I…accept your man candy! LOL.

Kiji and Uno are crazily on the same wavelength…

Oh wow, Uno just pulled out the Dazai stops.

“10 minutes later…”

CGI doors…what a pain in the butt.

The eye style on Uno makes me LOL too hard.

(ACCA 3)

Oh, so the OP’s red bird is an acca. Okay.

Potato gratin on toast. Never tried it, but I like potato gratin on cheese and cheese on potato gratin.

Bar Tattler. Perfect name for a place to spill secrets.

Wow. Formal dress isn’t that different to ACCA wear but it makes people look completely different.

There were huggggggggggggggge strawberries last time, remember?

Ooh. Things are getting interesting thanks to Mauve and the 5 General guys.

(ReLIFE ep 7)

Isn’t that Windows 7 Yoake has?

I never asked this, but what happens to failed subjects?

Hmph. They say in Japan that a guy and a girl sharing an umbrella is romantic.

ReLIFE really addresses the difference between personal involvement and work involvement.

Yoake really does remind me of Dazai sometimes.

LOL, Onoya, Yoake. Meanwhile, is that a pink computer? Don’t think I’ve ever seen a monitor that’s pink, although I have seen a pink brick phone and a pink laptop.

Arata’s senpai’s tale matches Yoake’s relationship with subject 001, now that I think of it.

I wanna know more about Amagase-san.

Love bubbles and sparkles, LOL. You are one strange character, Yoake.

You can easily tell Arata’s saying sumimasen , even if there are no subs.

Why did “I don’t have a car!” make me laugh so much?

I think there was an excess “and” in the subs somewhere when Yoake was reporting near the end of the ep.

(ep 8)

The animation on Oga’s hand was unnatural (as in, his second and third fingers were too far apart) when he waved.

“In the pink of health”? Never heard that one before.

“Appetite” is probably the wrong word for it, Amatsu-sensei.

He didn’t react by laughing at Tamarai’s, but I guess that would’ve been misinterpreted and/or impolite.

The final year of high school is all about going all out…

Is the pill in the eyecatch always blue? I saw it was orange last ep.

There appear to be English dictionaries on Inukai’s shelf.

You can see the bags under Tamarai’s eyes.

Revenge of the CGI balls, LOL.

You can see how much Asaji wants to help when he reaches out but then he takes it back. Huh.

Update: I was familiar up to about this part in the manga.

(ep 9)

Omurice. I like that word. Omurice. Omurice. Probably because “omelet rice” sounds weird…Omurice.

Do you think ReLIFE would benefit if its fandom had more memes? Because bees. The Bee Movie seems to be pretty popular as a meme subject these days.

Is this why people always want younger people to enjoy their youth? So they don’t have their dreams crushed later?

The three line eyebrows are distinctive, but they look a bit weird.

Oga, you innocent butt. Blinking ever so innocently at Kariu.

How ironic of you to say, “The last thing you need is a fall”, Oga.

Hishiron can’t be a soccer nerd. “Gooooal” doesn’t suit her.

Doesn’t Kaizaki have any better clothes than black and grey shirts?

Hishiron has her school bag.

Bullying is a Big Deal in Japan, where you’re not meant to pick on people at all. Western cultures wish for outgoing people, so for someone like me who sits more on the introvert side, life kinda sucks.

Seriously, An and Yoake, get together.

*facepalms* What a dork, Kaizaki. Hitting your head in you panic like that won’t get you anywhere.

That’s a weird way of putting that, Hishiron. “[G]et revenge with someone,” that is.

About the entire plotline: It’s easier to “regress” when it comes to writing stories but harder to “regress” when it comes to real life. It must be because of how used to living and growing up people feel.

(ep 10)

At the top of the staircase, Hishiron looked so confused (after she said that she’d watch the tournament).

“Of course I know.” – (Chorus: Of course Yoake knows.)

You’re too darned strong (regarding the door), Kaizaki.

I heard there was an English dub of ReLIFE. Hopefully they can sell the Hishiron voice well enough.

The first time, I was wondering what came after this.

(ep 11)

Why do people say stuff like “I’ll come with”? I’ve said it before, but never questioned it until now.

I actually think Onoya’ll be really grumpy when she wakes up.

I guess it’s the hairstyle, but I look at Yoake and I’m seeing Dazai…again.

I bet Arata will be sad once it ends, LOL.

Black companies – corrupt businesses filled with salesmen and women who can’t escape. That’s basically what I’ve picked up from Osomatsu-san, anyway.

Notice the pill is normally white/blue. This time it was black/blue.

There’s a very Western feeling to this. No wonder the West likes this more than Japan itself. It’s also quite the sociological study. It helps that this was one of the only two shows I watched in summer 2016 the first time around (the other being Boueibu s2) – I can see “One Wish They Never Wanted” reflected in this, and knowing me and the hard times I went through at the end of the year, it was most likely deliberate. After all, they do carry similar themes.

(ep 12)

I think there was a central institution uni applications go through in Japan. In my country, they have something similar.

I shipped Kariu and Oga so hard during these last two eps. It helps that I almost never take the shows with the ships.

Ow. That burnt so much, Arata.

Such a convenient hole in the wall.

Kamioka’s hair looks a little puffy.

You jerk, Arata. You didn’t think “the same thing”. You thought nothing of the sort!

Why is Arata a fish? Probably because Kaizaki means “ocean peak” (or something like it).

What’s up with that statue?

August 10th, 6:30 pm onwards.That’s when the fireworks festival is.

Arata’s got his own harem~! (Neener neener…and so on.)

(ep 13)

Why are only the girls in kimono?! (Update: Or is that yukata?)

You suave, suave player, Yoake.

The white figures really aren’t helping their case…

The blue and yellow sign tells you there’s a traffic obstruction due to the fireworks.

They’ve got some heavy focus on the earrings in a certain shot. It’s such good news for the ship.

Holding hands is a much bigger deal in Japan than it is in the West.

Of course Tama is such a target for mozzies. She’s so big in that region.

The fireworks look so lifelike in this anime!!! I said that for Showa Genroku too, though.

Like an ephermeal flower, a fireworks exists…or some other weird Yoda stuff like that.

Arata’s seems to be blue, while Chizuru’s seems to be green for the sake of colour coding.

Onoya’s fan says “festival” on it.

The pill background looks kinda like footsteps. It must’ve been deliberate they used such a pattern.

Off model at its worst (when the duo sat on the bench).

Dangitfalsekissscene!

LOL, lookit Hishiron’s creepy face.

Nothing is better than a properly-pulled-off bookend.

Welp, that’s the end of that. Hopefully we can meet again sometime, for some other show.

(D Gray Man Hallow ep 2)

Every time I see this ep, I think of a song. It’s this one, to be precise about it. Never mind about the music video, the lyrics and title suit it too well.

Poor Tim.

Ooh, macaron cake!

I forgot who Phantom Thief G was the first time. Then I checked him up and I remembered.

Wrong “throw”, subbers.

This scene where Link is crying is…very odd. There’s a lot of logic that really should be obvious that gets bandied about here.

Really? Fanservice?

If he has Innocence, Timothy’s guilty (in a sense). How ironic.

How do people even evaluate the Akuma’s level on sight?

(ep 3)

“Soul mate” is probably overreacting a little too much.

What a weird butt Galmar is. I can understand his reasoning for what he thinks though.

(ep 4)

People can never seem to agree on how to spell Tyki’s name.

Renny? Seriously, I laugh too much. “Lenny” would’ve been a proper name, but that’s a guy’s name. Then again, this is anime we’re talking about...

Tim’s so cute with the ZZZs.

That burn, Allen. So deep.

“This is the order of the Pope.”

“Hunting Exorcists, huh?”

(ep 5)

Everyone spells Alma’s name as Alma Karma, but the book cover says Alma Carma (sic). Huh.

Sometimes I question the need for a science section in the middle of an Akuma vs Exorcist war.

What the freak, Earl? Don’t scare me like that!

Improper poses? That’s so threatening. (sarcastic)

Unnecessary fanservice, number 2…? (Specifically the “you perv” bit.)

(ep 6)

A-hey. Young!Kanda animated in such a way that it invokes humour…it looks like Yurio. Lots of things remind me of Yurio these days.

How do they know exactly how many seconds it’ll take until the Seconds regenerate?

It’s bunny!Hoshino!

Such gallows humour. That’s why the novelty wore off on this show.

I think the word they mean is youkai instead of sprite.

The jackets come off…kinda sorta.

Is it “dreamed” or “dreamt”?

Can people even hear using stethescopes? I’ve never tried it myself, but I want to know.

Sometimes you forget Allen’s there.

How’d blonde guy (Edgar) get that blood around him?