#anime eupho

[yoro-shi]

黄前ちゃんは朝からまったり

まったりしてたら、、、、

[viinas]

special person

[audske]

band club president

[nijigasakilove]

So this is it folks. One last episode of Hibike Euphonium.. can you believe it.. everything we’ve built up to for a decade has led to this next episode.

Just a gut wrenching episode. It hurts so damn much just like my baby Kumiko said.. but I have to give credit to the author for not going the traditional route and having the heroine win in the end. This whole season was about establishing a meritocracy where the best players are playing.

If you want something you’ve never had before, you have to be prepared to do things you’ve never done before and sadly Kumiko was a casualty of that. If it’s what it takes for Kitauji to win gold, I think it’ll be worth it in the end, but man.. seeing Kumiko and Reina breakdown like that.. one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking scenes kyoani have ever made and a perfect callback to season 1 where they met in that same spot.

The Kanade scene broke me too 💔 fuck I wanted them to be able to play together so bad. Life is so cruel and sometimes we just don’t get the things we want or deserve..

I’m glad we at least finally got some sort of mutual understanding between Mayu and Kumiko. This should’ve put to bed any of the concerns people had about Mayu being vindictive or wanting to break Kumiko down. Having that fallout with her friend over the music club makes everything make more sense. She’s already been established as a person who doesn’t want to offend anyone at any costs as well, she didn’t even wanna choose a drink at the beach for fear of taking something someone else wanted, so her acting that way was in line with her character.

Just can’t believe it’s all over next week. Kumiko future, nationals.. all comes to a head.. fuck. OVA or something please

[lexiiii-vt]

and the next piece begins...

[arbitrarygreay]

I finished Hyouka since this. Was outside of its effective age range, but it was very good at its intent. Probably in Silent Voice tier, quality-wise, but between 6 and 7 in my personal liking. Meanwhile, there are some Fumoffu jokes that have aged poorly.

I would also probably replace Lucky Star with K-ON! at this point. It's just that K-ON! doesn't binge well.

A lot of people are talking about their favorite KyoAni works or how the studio impacted them, in honor of the deceased. 1. Liz and the Blue Bird This movie is a bona-fide masterpiece. I really have no words to do it justice. 2. Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya I have not seen most of S2. I have seen Disappearance. S1 was an absolute masterclass on adaptation and structure. A perfect season. So much so, that I found Disappearance to be basically a rehash of the finale arc. This show might have been responsible for a flood of inferior riffs on the concept, but that it was so influential in turning anime’s image away from mecha and genre other-worlds was because its own inherent craft was unimpeachable, so compelling that others wanted to try their own hand at the magic. This season proves that execution is everything, and KyoAni had the touch. 3. Hibike! Euphonium Classical music and empathetic examination of navigating artistic passion in the waters of popularity politics and social expectations. Performance in music illuminating behavioral performativity. My personal thematic catnip, while evoking some very close-to-home memories. 4. A Silent Voice Just, brutal. Go watch it on Netflix right now, y'all. 5. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Some of the strength of this was the manga author, whose other works I’ve liked, but this was still an excellent time. Just enough weight to it that it avoided feeling like empty calories. Bring on S2. 6. Fumoffu, Nichijou KyoAni’s impeccable sense of comedic timing is sadly rare in anime. Furthermore, they uniquely understand how comedy doesn’t need to mean diminished production value, that treating the animation dead seriously can only enhance the effect, transcend the traditional concept of the punchline. 7. Lucky Star The most uneven show on this list. Kobayashi is also uneven, but is more consistently higher quality than Lucky Star. But like Haruhi, Lucky Star paved the way for many, many inferior shows of its ilk by just acing the execution, and its highs are some damned good highs. Whoops, I never finished Hyouka. But wow, that build through the school festival arc. Wow. Arteeestic indie films wish they could be so precise and effective in their character work. There are lots of shows that I watch that I consider good, but being long term rewatchable is getting to be a rarer and rarer thing. KyoAni genuinely has the touch, though. Every show on this list is rewarding to rewatch, every time. No matter what happens from now on, KyoAni will rightfully be loved for what it has already done.

[yukisubmarino]

It doesn’t matter what Kumiko wants.

(Minor Eupho finale spoilers ahead)

That’s the painful reality of Hibike! Euphonium’s third season, especially for the viewer who (presumably) aligns with our hero’s desires.

The third season does an excellent job in rehashing what we all loved about the first, but its biggest success is in twisting our expectations from the familiar to the uncharted. Kumiko becomes president, which means she can exercise greater control in getting what she wants right? Wrong.

As I’ve argued before, this (in part) is what makes Kumiko an excellent president. She realizes her place within the band is as a mediator, a punching bag, a soundboard, and—most importantly—a selfless decision-maker. It doesn’t come without pain, but it’s in learning to live with the disappointment that our hero grows to become the most effective (and successful) leader the Kitauji band has ever seen.

Kumiko isn’t the only one with unfulfilled desires, of course. Asuka doesn’t win gold, Nozomi can’t live out her dream, Shun doesn’t win Kumiko’s heart (yes i know what happens in the source material but let me have this one), Kanade doesn’t play at Nationals, Reina can’t…well…you know. And Kumiko doesn’t get the soli, even when getting the soli would be the most obvious thing in the world to happen for someone who deserves it.

But the thing is, someone else deserves it, too. Someone else will always deserve the thing that you want, and sometimes that means you won’t get it. It happens all the time! But in a medium filled with so much wish-fulfillment, it’s important to get these occasional reminders that disappointment is natural…and that it will all be okay in the end.

There are a lot of reasons why I think Hibike! Euphonium is the greatest televised anime ever made, many of which are technical and aesthetic and lean heavily towards personal taste. But perhaps the biggest reason is how a show about a high school band on the other side of the world—the most innocuous premise conceivable—manages to bring out some of the most important life lessons anyone of any age could possibly learn. Yes, I want what Kumiko wants, and it upset me so much that she doesn’t get it—just as much as it uplifts me to see the results of her growth born from that pain and frustration.

Hibike’s final act is the show’s greatest movement—a soaring testament to KyoAni’s storytelling power and the emotional height of what televised fiction can attain. Perhaps that’s a recency bias showing, but then again—how could I expect less from the greatest anime ever made?

[yuki-baskerville]

I was so busy crying while watching Eupho last episode that I didn't even realize about Kumiko having Shuuichi's hairpin again. I didn't even remember that scene in the movie where she told him to give the hairpin back if he was still interested in dating her. People are free to ship whatever they want, but is still so wild to me how they are "yeah my boy won" when they spoke for only like 2 min during the episode. The ship will never make sense to me. I can agree that they make sense in the LN, to some extent, but when KyoAni goes out of their way to not include their scenes in the anime you can't expect me to believe that they got together. Yeah, she has the hairpin back, but that doesn't mean they are a couple. Why would he keep the hairpin? he is not going to wear it, so of course he gave it back to her. He can't give it to another girl because he got it for Kumiko, thinking about Kumiko and that it would probably suit her. Maybe Shuuichi gave it back to her as some memento, but that's all. I'm not trying to hate on the ship, but they will NEVER have the same chemistry Reina and Kumiko have. Also, about Reina, I would like to believe that at some point while living in America she will realize that her feelings for Taki are not there anymore, finally she is free of that childish crush and understands that this love is impossible. And then, well, you know, KUMIREI FOREVER BEECHES.

It's been a while since the last time I talked about Kumirei here, I really missed this brainrot.

[kbnet]

So. Kimi no Iro. Dude.

I'm not sure where to begin with Kimi no Iro. With all of Yamada's previous features, it's pretty clear what the points of interest are; what direction to go. You can see it in the discussions around the movies when they came out. The fun is in unpacking it all. To put it another way, with Liz and Koe, I only fully appreciated them when I saw them a second time. With Iro, when I eventually rewatch it, it'll be to confirm what the movie I just watched is, exactly. I know that seems like an insane thing to say in light of how straightforward it is on the surface. Still, some observations:

>What Totsuko sees isn't the same thing as synesthesia, which I'm given to understand is another way of experiencing the same datum that constitute hearing. What Totsuko experiences as an individual's "color" is synthesized from the same bundle of observations that constitute our hard-and-fast judgements about people. Indeed, Totsuko in Japanese says she sees a person's「雰囲気」, which the subs rendered as "aura," but I'd way rather translate as "vibes" since the Japanese word doesn't have anything to do with New Age nonsense. Moreover, this judgement has an aesthetic character. She finds these colors "beautiful" or "sublime," but it's more accurate to say these colors are beauty and are sublimity of various sorts.

This manifold is essentially Kant's aesthetic theory, which is ironic because I was slowly reading through the Critique of Judgement before I put that on hold to prioritize some other stuff. Totsuko's Catholicism certainly seems in alignment with Kant's own religious feelings – although Kant of course was Protestant.

>In this sense, Totsuko doesn't perceive anything that we don't. As for her reticence to talk about seeing people's colors, Totsuko may perceive the vibes, but she can't read the mood. She seems wrong to point at the fact that she perceives her own aesthetic judgements as why she feels isolated. It's a very minor point in the film, but even so, I'm not exactly sure what to make of it.

>It occurs to me that Yamada would make really interesting hard SF.

>The body language is more cartoony than any Yamada thing since…probably Tamako Market? It's a different sort than Tamako Market or K-ON! though. No less effective at communicating humanity. I especially love all the mob characters. I guess this lexicon suits the "light" tone of the movie better than the mannerisms of Liz or Koe, and of course she's got an entirely different staff with different strengths working with her. That said, I agree with Cirugeda that it wouldn't surprise me if Yamada were involved with the corrections way more than usual for a kantoku. There are faces and expressions in this movie that are "oh wow this looks like Yamada could've drawn this herself" which just isn't really true for…again, anything since Tamako Market really.

>I did mention all of this in passing on bluesky of course, but the almost effortless sense of humanity is crazy. I just feel like I'm at a loss to say anything about it without having taken notes except to shrug and say "check out that animation bro."

>Yeah, the compositing and BGs I thought were ugly in the promo material were ugly in the movie too. The movie does have its moments but I still can't get behind some of these choices. The very long article with the director of photography was painful.

>Overall, I get the sense that Yamada is really starting to trust her colleagues as collaborators at Saru.

>Someone else will have to unpack how it interacts with Class-S conventions

>I'm almost certainly in the minority, but everyone reveling at Totsuko's song during the concert is a strange bit of artifice that doesn't seem consistent with the rest of the film.

>I've seen this movie understood as kinda like a return to K-ON! from a new perspective, but I think these are quite different aesthetic projects even aside from the massive difference in format. One way in which they're similar though, and unlike Eupho, is that I don't get much of a concern with the details of making music. Yamada is evidently quite careful about audio-visual integration: for instance, in a making-of video she's talking with a producer about how she wants a retake of an otherwise finished sequence because Totsuko is animated hitting a note on her keyboard that doesn't correspond to the audio, and in the concert Kimi is carefully shown using a speaker on stage to produce the feedback in Walk. What she cares less about here is the process or the plausibility. In fairness, Bocchi the Rock! is pretty much the only rock band anime I can think of which takes it seriously. Liz is, of course, entirely about this.

>"What is a prayer; what is a hymn?" are questions which on one level fall into Yamada's longstanding fascination with communication, but I think it's notable that while Kimi writes an "apology song," the song doesn't and was never intended to "reach" anyone – to actually communicate anything to a particular audience member. That would be an anime cliché. Perhaps writing the song itself helped clarify her thoughts regarding her family. That would ultimately be why Sister Hiyoshiko suggested it – and is probably the ultimate purpose of prayer.

>Ultimately this movie feels like a transitional piece of some kind – as if I'm going to be coming back to this movie as a Rosetta Stone for future Yamada movies.

I dunno man, I just can't pull the kind of close readings out of thin air that other people seem to be able to do. I certainly liked the movie a lot, but I'm just not sure what I ought to feel confident in saying right now.

[yoro-shi]

葉月ちゃんほど自分の人生で見習わないといけない部分が多いキャラはいないと感じている♪ ハッピーバースデイ葉月ちゃん！

[x0401x]

No, but… that was a really good one, actually.

I might as well let this out. A lot of people are still losing their minds over episode 12, and I’m not even gonna try to pretend this isn’t to be expected. It’s not happening only on this side of the fandom—the Japanese one was also torn about it, although I’d argue they were much quicker to understand what KyoAni was going for with it.

Y’all know me. That goddamn studio owns my soul, but I’m not joining the “KyoAni did it again (even when they actually did not)” club in this lifetime or the next. If the changes made during the adaptation ruin the intention of the original work, no matter how good the animation is, a spade is still a spade and I address it at length when people ask my opinion. But that’s not what happened this time.

And guys, hear me out: it’s not as painful as everyone is making it to be. I’m dead-serious about that. Stick with me here.

Firstly, there’s a couple of conversations going on that we need to put to sleep. One of them, the one bothering me the most, is that Reina “chose Taki’s way of doing things over Kumiko”. Or worse, that she “chose winning at the nationals over Kumiko”. The episode itself debunks this in several ways, mainly by showing that flashback of S1. If Reina had chosen Kumiko despite thinking Mayu’s performance was better, Kumiko would’ve known, and it could very well have been the end of their friendship. She would’ve been outraged. In no universe would this scenario ever make her happy. More importantly, the flashback implies that Reina wants to choose Kumiko in spite of everything. What stops her from doing so is the fact that it would mean betraying Kumiko, which is worse than not being able to play with her on national stage one last time. Reina didn’t choose Kumiko… but she did.

None of this was about victory—it truly was a matter of meritocracy. Choosing the best members doesn’t guarantee they would win at the nationals, especially given that Mayu isn’t superior to Kumiko by a wide margin. They’re almost tied. And neither was any of it a Taki vs. Kumiko thing for Reina. She’s abrasive when it comes to defending his policies, but her belief in him isn’t blind. The fandom tends to underestimate Reina a lot because of her romantic feelings and mistakes her faith for stubbornness, even though both the novels and the anime are adamant about her good judgement. It’s not that she trusts him because she’s in love with him—she’s in love with him because he is worth her trust. Then again, this had nothing to do with him. It was all about Kumiko. She was the only thing in Reina’s mind the whole time. Taki wasn’t mentioned even in passing.

The other is that Kumiko’s loss was for shock value because the novel’s outcome was too obvious and KyoAni wanted to surprise the viewers. I’m not gonna lie, this decision was definitely meant to give the anime a so-called “plus alpha” in comparison to the original, but that’s not all there is to it. The main reason is obviously to have it be more grounded and mature, not so much your usual music anime, as well as make the whole debate about fairness actually convincing. The original is not only predictable, it’s also questionable. It’s easy for something to look like Deus Ex Machina even when that’s clearly not the intention, and KyoAni didn’t want Eupho to be that anime. By extension, they shot down every suspicion that could’ve possibly been raised about Kumiko’s win in the original work.

Of course Reina would’ve recognized Kumiko’s sound, so although most readers would know that she wouldn’t choose Kumiko for any reason other than her performance, it still leaves room for doubt. The anime slaps this doubt into outer space by constructing a situation where Reina deemed Mayu’s playing as superior, although by a hair’s breadth. It effectively answers the question of “what would she have done if that was the case?”. With the author having approved of this, it’s safe to say that, yes, that’s what Reina would have done in canon as well. And it would be the right choice, which then means that her choice in the original was also undebatably the right one. That Kumiko earned her win in the novel.

This may or may not have been intended, but either way, the anime has elevated the original work’s outcome by going for that route. After all, the original was predictable, sure, but that doesn’t mean it was unrealistic. These two things are being confused and conflated with one another a lot in many comments that I’ve been seeing out there. Realism doesn’t always have to be negative. Kumiko and Mayu had equal chances of winning. That’s what the audition was all about. The novel portrays what would’ve happened if Kumiko had won, while the anime portrays what would’ve happened if she had lost. Both are valid and the existence of one further validates the other, not the contrary.

What the author wanted to show was that, although Kumiko can’t follow Reina or her more talented senpais, she’s still an excellent player, enough to perform the solo on national competitions, and she wouldn’t let this get the better of her. It also seems like there was an element of “be careful with what you wish” as one of the morals behind Mayu’s arc, where she finally accepts her true feelings through regret rather than joy. Meanwhile, what KyoAni wanted to show is that, even if Kumiko is surpassed, she’s still an exceptional leader and has the makings of a fine teacher. In a way, the anime affirms that both Kumiko and Mayu play a special role in guiding Kitauji through the final tournament. Above all, both routes assert that Reina wouldn’t lie under any circumstances and that Kumiko (as well as Mayu) would indeed accept either result with utmost grace and understanding, no matter how frustrating it might be.

Another thing that the anime elevated is Kumiko and Reina’s bond. In my honest opinion, KumiRei has become the best female relationship in animation and one of the absolute best female relationships in fiction thanks to this episode. It’s transcended friendship, transcended gay, transcended fucking everything.

Alternative endings aren’t dead and they don’t always suck. Eupho continues to be one of the most amazing slice-of-life franchises ever.

[just-pass-through]

Honestly I love how this season has a music anime on three different levels of rawness.

Jellyfish is the Disney Channel made for TV movie.

GBC is the primetime dramedy.

And Eupho is the prestige drama that you needed to pay the premiere cable package for to be able to watch it on HBO.

[nijigasakilove]

Perfect capstone to a decade long journey. Kyoani thank you for this magical experience. I had my doubts about whether or not everything could be wrapped in one episode, but they were unfounded. This took me on an emotional roller coaster and by the end I was crying tears of joy.

First of all, so good to see Mayu and Kumiko finally on good terms. Only took a few months but the two of them practicing with Kanade was so sweet. Everyone needed to be on the same page going into nationals and after Kumiko speech last week the mood was noticeably better.

Love that every single club member got their name and face showed on screen during the final speech from Kumiko. We only focused on a few students for the sake of the show, but there’s so many people whose hard work and dedication made this possible and they deserve to be recognised. They all had their own stories and paths here and I wish we could’ve got more of them. Our final “Kitauji fight!” Gave me pure chills.

I’d been critical about them having almost no musical performances in this season. They saved the performance for last and WOWZA it was worth it. I’m always a fan of flashbacks during climaxes and seeing all of the highlights of the first two seasons again was chef’s kiss. Goosebumps. The club’s performance truly carried their hearts and souls and the totality of all the hard work and sacrifices they’ve made. The determined looks on their faces.. yea they refused to lose this one and were deservedly rewarded at the end.

We all knew that Kitauji High Gold announcement was coming, but that didn’t make it any less emotional. So much work, so many tears, so many people who contributed to this victory that didn’t get to be on that stage.. it means something to all of us fans who’ve been here since 2015 and ofc to the club members in the show. Seeing Reina and the others cry out of pure elation was incredible.“I’m so happy I’m going to die” is how we’re all feeling after that. I just wish all the senpai could’ve been there to see! Sucks that Natsuki got turned away :/

😭 timeskip Kumiko is so beautiful omg. The animation during her walk to class was so good too as you’d expect from Kyoani. But, cmon, was there ever any place you’d expect her to be than in that classroom as the advisor? She was born for it. As Occam’s razor dictates, oftentimes the best choice is the easiest one.

And the clip?? She an Shuuichi are married!!? Perfect ending. I would love an OVA to see what Reina is getting up to in the states and Mayu and the other girls. Mayu especially lol. But if they leave it here, I’m satisfied as well because this was mission accomplished. What a ride, been a pleasure sharing it with all of you.

review

[megaboy335]

Anime and Manga of 2024 Review

It’s that time of the year again. Below is my overview of the anime I watched and the manga I read throughout 2024. There will be spoilers and remember it's just my opinion.

1. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End When I make these yearly lists I consider anything that ended within the year to be eligible so of course the top anime of the year is without a doubt Frieren. I’ve been following the manga since it began and I knew right away that it would be a massive hit someday. Frieren is about the passage of time with an Elf who realizes how short the human lifespan is. She comes to realize that despite always being with Himmel and his party for 10 years, she barely knew a single thing about them nor treasured the time together. So with a new party and a renewed goal of reaching Heaven for one last conversation with Himmel, she sets forth on a quest that is part making new memories while retracing old events. I thought the anime was the most perfect adaptation I’ve seen in a long time. They nailed the atmospheric slow pacing, they went all out on the action scenes, and the seiyuu cast brought out the best of the characters. I would even argue it’s an overall improvement on the manga. The manga is good, but the paneling isn’t the most exciting and the art can be plain looking. I can’t possibly recommend this anime enough. I’m eagerly looking forward to season 2.

2. Hibike Euphonium Season 3 A running theme in 2024 was new seasons for anime that I highly enjoyed from several years ago, the strongest of which was without a doubt Hibike Euphonium. The new season gave me a good reason to watch the recap movies and then the 2023 special to get myself back up to speed, and let me just say WOW. Hibike Euphonium is just as good as I remember, maybe even better since I’m older now and appreciate some of the finer storytelling techniques. Liz is also worth watching. I’ve been on Tumblr for so long that I have my thoughts on record about season 1 (poorly written) from back in the day. Season 3 is all about Kumiko’s 3rd year of high school. She’s now club president and must deal with all the responsibilities that come with managing the underclassman. However, her Eupho position comes under threat from the transfer student Mayu whose skills on the Eupho are just as good as Kumiko, if not downright better. This stirs up tension throughout the season which continues to build and build to the climax. Kumiko and Mayu are presented as foils to each other in a few aspects. Mayu is good at the Eupho while not seeing herself as someone overly committed to the club. Kumiko in contrast feels inferior to Mayu yet feels earning the coveted position on the Soli is a given her seniority status in the club. Everything comes to a head when Kumiko and Mayu have to compete against each other for a spot in the nationals performance. The club had to vote for which was best, and it came down to Reina’s tie breaker. Even though she couldn’t deny Kumiko's music from sound,  Mayu was obviously the better player. We then had a super emotional scene on Mt. Daikichiyama that mirrored season 1 (I visited this location earlier this year). Easily one of the best anime moments this year. So with this season, Kumiko’s story has come to a close. I couldn’t believe KyoAni actually changed the ending of this arc. In the novels it was Kumiko who won the competition. The change to Mayu was so seamless and honestly always felt like that’s where the story momentum was going. Also Shuuichi was more or less banished from the story so season 3 had plenty more Yuri baiting. Anyhow, KyoAni anime only comes out 1-2 times a year and everytime I’m quickly reminded why they are the best. I can’t wait for City and the Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid movie in 2025.

3. Monogatari Off & Monster Season Speaking of long awaited new seasons, this year also featured a new installment of the Monogatari series. This season covers 3 stories from Off Season and the first volume of Monster Season. Right away it was obvious that the direction style was changed to be a blend of the original Bake era and the style used in later installments. I can only describe it as a return to form of what made the anime so attractive in the first place. It's an approach that still perfectly compliments Nisio’s out of the box writing. The first major arc this season was a Nadeko retrospective story where she has to literally confront her past selves. It was the closure to her previous arcs that I didn’t realize I needed. From shy to outgoing to becoming a god, then reverting back to normal, Nadeko has been on a journey like no other. In Nadeko Draw she comes to accept every aspect of herself and how each moment played a role in bringing herself to where she is today. Ironically she’s become more in-tuned into the world of aberrations than ever before. The second major arc revolved around Shinobu and her backstory. We learned that her beauty brought death wherever she went until she encountered the vampire Deathtopia. It's a very Nisio concept to explore the interaction between someone who can kill all and someone who can’t die. It really put into perspective why she treasured Seishirou and Araragi so much later in life. This backstory was a prelude to Shinobu Mustard. A story about Araragi trying to figure out the vampire targeting Kanbaru’s basketball team. It was great seeing Araragi again after all these years. Between more Monogatari anime and Cipher Academy, I’ve been spoiled on experiencing more Nisio writing lately. The man is a non stop writing machine yet he still has the magic touch to make compelling stories.. Surely there will be another installment of Off Season and Monster Season since there’s still plenty more to cover.

4. Too Many Losing Heroines I am no stranger to the losing heroine archetype as someone with over 15 years of experience watching my heroines lose over and over. This Tumblr blog is themed around Kosaki Onodera, the losing heroine of Nisekoi. So when a series comes along that follows the pov of losing heroines from various archetypes then you know I’m in. Too Many Losing asks “What happens afterwards?” We follow Yanami Anna, the stereotypical blue hair losing heroine who took too long to confess and loses her standing to the new pink hair transfer student with large breasts. It’s a troupe as old as time which even Kosaki fell victim to. The story begins at what would be the climax of Yanami’s story.  She is pushing Sosuke, the male character of her story, to see the heroine one last time before she departs. It's the exact moment when so many losing heroines formally lose to the new heroine. We then meet Lemon (the athletic tomboy) and Chika (the shy bookworm type) along with the cast of characters for their respective stories. From here we basically get the aftermath to each one. Our losing heroines can’t simply let go of their feelings after seeing their guy hook with another girl. They all join the school’s literature club and take comfort in knowing each other. I’ll be the first to admit the writing could be stronger, but I think the series works with a solid base. Yanami is one of the funniest characters from this year. The author recently confirmed how they were inspired by Darling in the Franxx’s Ichigo who certainly had an attitude on her shoulders, just as Yanami. We can only imagine how the losing girls act when they’re off-screen and this series provides a glimpse into the characters. It’s written with earnest love for the genre. I’ve picked up the LNs so maybe I’ll have more thoughts to report in the future.

5. Girls Band Cry Lastly, we have a show that came out of nowhere. Girls Band Cry might initially turn off viewers for its CG, but I assure you Toei is the one studio you can trust to give a CG model the personality it needs. Just see all the Precure EDs, some of the movies, and DB Super Hero as recent examples. I too was foolishly dismissive at first as well, but I should have known better. This quickly became one of those shows that defined the odds and grew rapidly in popularity during the season it aired through word of month alone. Girls Band Cry is about Nina moving to the big city in hopes of changing her life. She wants to get away from her strict family and rediscover herself through the escapism of music. There she meets Momoka, Subaru, and a couple other band members to fill out the group. Nina is quite a bundle of rage who always seems ready to blow at any moment. She gets easily misunderstood by everyone around her. Nina is the type who often times believes she is always right to a stubborn degree. A major point of her character arc is getting Momoka to be less dismissive of her own music as Nina struggles to convey how much it changed her own life. They argue, they fight, and in the end they become closer. This better get another season. The Nari character designs are charming. I want to see the group make it big plus Rupa had no episodes for herself. There’s plenty of room for the band to grow and many more challenges to overcome. The CG allowed the series to stand out in a way that I think surprised a lot of people. Between this, Bocchi, and Girl Meets Rock on Jump+, there’s been a strong streak of girls playing bands lately. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best OP/EDs of the Year: 1. One Piece Opening 26 - Perfectly captures the energy going into Egghead and teases everything that will happen in this set of episodes. Also directed by Megumi Ishitani like the previous OP. 2. Tying the Tie with an Amagami Sister ED 1 - Sung by the main seiyuu with pretty visuals. Better than usual for a rom-com ED 3. Bleach TYBW Cour 3 ED - Rare case of ED being better than the OP. I love the stills of each character + there are 3 versions 4. Nadeko Draw OP - A visual adventures in Nadeko's imagination with Yotsugi is very cute. Felt like a continuation of her previous openings 5. Hibike Euphonium Season 3 OP - The Perfect kind of opening that got me in the mood for the episode each week. KyoAni visuals perfect as usual. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wonderful Precure: Precure is usually on my top 5 list, so what happened? Put simply, after 20 years its gone to the dogs. I know how some years of Precure are better than others and the 2024 series had especially big shoes to fill so I had to keep my expectations tampered. Initially I was not pleased with the animal theme or the lack of fighting and minimal plot. However I come out not completely disliking Wonderful Precure. In my All Stars F post I mentioned how one of Precure’s overarching themes is Bonds. This year we explored bonds between pets and their owners through Komugi/Iroha, Mayu/Yuki, and Satoru/Daifuku. On the opposite side we have the wolf Gaou-sama who completely detests humans after being betrayed and seeing his species nearly go extinct. Its got more depth than you might think from the start. The 2025 series will be idols so that’s already promising. While I wouldn’t list these in my top 5, this was a generally good year for Weekly Shonen Jump (and Jump+) anime adaptations. My Hero Academia came and went with another season. Same issue as usual but I’ll give them credit for improving the drawings. We got a shaft-like experience with Undead Unluck that made the anime stand out in ways I didn’t expect. Unfortunately there were pacing issues in the middle and the back half wavered compared to the start. There will be a 1 hour special in a year so we can only hope for another season after that. Dandadan from Science Saru came out swinging. It was always going to be impossible to adapt Yukinobu’s spread compositions to screen yet that made up for that with superb character animation and voice acting. Dandadan Episode 7 was one of the best this year. Bleach TYBW Cour 3 added several much needed scenes for Uryu. Each week I remember how much I enjoyed Bleach and how we didn’t appreciate Kubo while he was around. The Elusive Samurai is definitely one of the best looking Jump anime in a good while. I never would have expected that one to get such strong animation direction. Matsui was overdue to have one of his manga adapted with such style. It's only held back by there not being more right now.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the single best anime episode this year was One Piece Fan Letter, directed by Megumi Ishitani. She honestly might be too good for directing normal episodes at this point. The special was framed around the normal people within the world of One Piece. How do they see those with crazy powers? How is the shifting times affecting them? Do they engage in power scale conversations? It’s a side of the story focused on a point of view that we never experience. It was such a treat to revisit that turbulent time after Marineford within the world of One Piece. Toei please give Megumi Ishitani a full length movie to direct next. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manga Section: The Year of Long Runners Ending

As for manga this was a major transition year for Weekly Shonen Jump. My Hero Academia ended an impressive 10 year run in the magazine and Jujutsu Kaisen concluded just weeks later. As of the time of this writing Undead Unluck and Mission: Yozakura Family are looking to likely be ending in the first weeks of 2025. This will put Me & Roboco as the 2nd oldest series in the magazine and its only a 5 year old title.

Quick thoughts rundown of numerous long runners that concluded this year: 1) Edens Zero - Basically FT in space, could have ended better but I liked the adventures 2) Call of the Night - The kind of romance story you could only get from Kotoyama, loved the atmosphere 3) Twin Star Exorcist - Finally one of the long running Jump SQ series ends after 10 years. Didn’t hate it, but still long past its prime 4) Orient - Got better as it went along. Shame the objective switched to finishing the serialization after it went monthly 5) Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable - Hokkaido Gals are indeed adorable. Very heartfelt harem series with a lot of color pages to enhance key scenes.(Best girl was Sayurin) 6) Jujutsu Kaisen - The battles were 10/10, the plot was confusing nor reached its peak for me. 7) Oshi no Ko - Great journey and I think the ending is misunderstood. Ruby has surpassed Ai by being more relatable to her fans. Everyone knows her mom and brother are dead, so they find her performing with a smile to be endearing and inspiring. 8) My Hero Academia - I wrote a long piece on this ending Looking at the Jump graveyard, as always we lost a couple of series that I thought had promising potential. Mamayuyu’s Yoshihiko Hayashi is a mangaka to remember for the future. Their design work and page compositions are already far beyond the skills of a rookie. He only needs to make his writing easier to understand. Green Green Greeens from Kento Terasaka was surprisingly endearing despite some writing faults. It was about discovering how a new passion can completely change your life. Martial Master Asumi from Kawada was just too cultured for normal readers to understand with character writing that was perhaps too nuanced for a shonen audience. And finally my favorite series to die early, Cipher Academy from Nisioisin and Yuji Iwasaki. It was another instance of “Nisio still has it”. Weaving character development and world building through puzzle solving is the most Nisio thing ever. Solving the puzzles on your own as a reader wasn’t important, the hook was how the characters approached each one. However, that did sort of defeat the purpose of having puzzles in the first place.. Overall it lasted just over 1 year and finished the story fairly conclusively. Iwasaki’s art was crazy good and I hope they find themselves drawing on a major hit someday.

Bonus Section:  Catalog reading 1) Fire Force - I should have finished this sooner. It has very strong highs late in the series and tying it into Soul Eater is a fun touch 2) Bakemonogatari - Oh Great was maybe a bit overly ambitious in trying to bring all the Hanekawa arcs together, but they are still one of the best weekly artists around. Very much a unique take on the story that differs from the anime and original LNs 3) Tokyo Ghoul - Its alright and I got what Ishida was going for. I’m simply glad to check it off after all these years. 4) MHA: Vigilantes - This is definitely one of the best spin-off series I’ve read to a popular main story. It holds up surprisingly well on its own while expanding the MHA world in substantive ways. The upcoming anime will be a must watch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking to 2025: The future's looking good for Weekly Shonen Jump. Kagurabachi has risen to become a new flagship title for the magazine. Osamu Nishi and Shiro Uzasaki have teamed up for Ichi the Witch. A manga about the first male witch in a world where only females are supposed to have magic. Ichi overcomes challenges in absurd ways and Uzasaki’s art has already reached new highs within these first several chapters. I’m excited to see how the story unfolds. Tokyo Revenger’s Ken Wakui also showed up in Jump and his series is pretty decent. Astro Royale a yakuza story about unifying the gang after an apocalyptic event. Himaten looks to be holding its own. I hope the characters can become deeper overtime. Nue’s Exorcist is a series that still exists. Kill Blue is an underrated title in the magazine that has grown on me a lot. I will be hoping that Tsutsui Tashi’s Syd Craft: Love Is a Mystery can defy the odds and survive. Weekly Shonen Jump also has plenty of anime to pump out throughout the upcoming year. I hope the Witch Watch anime gets the series more traction. I’m weary of Sakamoto Days from the trailer so far, so we’ll see. Akane Banashi is on deck for an anime announcement next. Please Please Please be in good hands. Jump+ is doing fine by coasting along with anime based on the hits from the last several years. Kindergarten Wars will likely join the ranks by the end of 2025. Girl Meets Rock is doing well, but I think in the grand scheme they’re in a hit lull right now from the new titles. Cheers to another year in the books!!

[studentofetherium]

over time I've come around to the opinion that the Eupho school uniform is in fact one of the best in anime