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soulerflaire · 4 months

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Felt like rating more anime I've watched recently or am currently watching.

Skip and Loafer

Summary: Mitsumi, a girl growing up in the country, moves to Tokyo to attend a prestigious high school. Her first day, she runs into Sousuke, the most popular guy in school, and they become friends.

Sounds like fairly standard high school romance anime, which I usually am not particularly interested in, but the writing in this one is far better than most. The characters act like real people with complicated, messy emotions that they are still learning to deal with. Also notably, Mitsumi doesn't immediately fall head over heels for Sousuke, nor does he immediately fall for her. Even by the end of the season, they're just good friends, though it's clear feelings are developing on both sides. The focus of the show is less on the romance and more on the characters themselves. Mitsumi's ambition mixed with uncertainty and anxiety in a new environment, Sousuke's past weighing him down and his popularity affecting his interactions with people, Mika's realization of her own jealous and petty nature and her attempts to break free from it, Makoto and Yuzuki overcoming their preconceptions about each other.

But even without all of that, I still very much like the show for something major it did: it included a trans character and treated her with respect. I've talked about this before, but the inclusion of Nao as a character is so well done. She's never once the butt of a joke, or made out to be creepy or bad. Mitsumi lives with Nao in Tokyo, and Nao's a loving and caring aunt who offers advice and support to Mitsumi whenever she needs it. Most animes that include trans characters either make them "guy in a dress" jokes or demonize them as unstable or dangerous (even some of my favorite shows are guilty of this). But Skip and Loafer puts Nao into the position of a caring mentor figure (not just to Mitsumi, but to Mika too) as well as a competent and successful stylist. And even beyond that, the show doesn't make a big deal out of her being trans. Rather than Nao being "the trans character", she is just a character who happens to be trans. I hope this is the beginning of a trend of anime treating trans people better. 8/10.

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

Summary: Usato and his two classmates Inukami and Ryusen are summoned to another world on their way home from school. In typical isekai fashion, they were summoned to defeat the Demon Lord, and are granted magical powers. However, once the large and imposing Rose, leader of the kingdom's team of healers, learns that Usato has an affinity for healing magic, she grabs him and hauls him over to the healer team's base for intensive training.

I love the general premise of how Rose teaches Usato to use healing magic. Rather than allow him to become a physically weak caster, she puts him through hellish physical training and forces him to use his healing magic to instantly recover so that he can train more, pushing him harder and harder until he learns to constantly cast healing magic on himself to reinforce his body, allowing him to perform inhuman feats of strength and endurance. I also love that pretty much everyone else in the world thinks Rose is completely insane for using healing magic this way and slowly goes from pitying Usato to wondering about his sanity as he progresses in his training.

The show generally has a very light tone, poking fun at some isekai tropes, but there is a heavy undertone about the horrors of war. There's a reason Rose is training Usato so hard. And when the time comes for Usato to step onto the battlefield as a member of the Rescue Team, the show almost completely drops the light tone, only bringing it fully back after the battle ends.

I thoroughly enjoyed every episode, and I like all of the characters a lot. I am a little worried about the potential harem forming, with both Inukami and Felm clearly crushing on Usato, but I'm hoping it's just a love triangle and doesn't develop into a full blown harem. I have so little patience for those these days. 8/10, if the show doesn't continue I will absolutely have to read the manga.

Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World

Summary: Four adventurers, Nick, Tiana, Zem, and Curran, have all been betrayed by people they trusted completely and have become disillusioned with the world. They happen to meet at a tavern and drown their sorrows together. The following morning, they decide to form an adventuring party, promising to never trust each other and to never interfere with each others' personal lives.

What I love most about this show is that, of course, they all immediately begin trusting each other and become a found family. They constantly talk about distrust, but their actions say otherwise. I love their interactions so much, I could watch entire episodes of them bantering.

I think it's also interesting the way the show handles their trauma. All four of them have unhealthy coping mechanisms that cost a lot of money: Nick has become an idol otaku, blowing all his money on merch. Tiana is addicted to gambling and, despite being quite good at it, still gambles too much and always loses money in the end. Zem spends almost every night drinking at a hostess club. And Curran is obsessed with food, using all her money to eat at fancy restaurants. All four of their addictions are clearly coping mechanisms filling the holes their betrayals left, and while these habits are unhealthy for all of them, the habits also keep them from falling into despair. They're both distractions from the group's pasts and goals to strive for: keep working, keep earning money, keep living, so they can keep enjoying their vices.

It's a found family show that focuses a lot on trust, trauma, and the complex lives everyone has. Even antagonist characters get backstories that explain (but don't excuse) their actions. And it balances the heavy subject matter very well with humor, so the show never feels like a downer. 8/10.

Kaiju No. 8

Summary: In a world where monstrous kaiju regularly attack civilization, Kafka Hibino works as part of the cleanup crew that handles the aftermath of kaiju attacks. He once aspired to join the Kaiju Defense Force, but gave up after failing the exam repeatedly. He meets Reno Ichikawa, a young man who plans to enlist and who encourages Kafka to take another try at the exam. Before that happens, however, they are caught in a kaiju attack and end up in the hospital. While there, Kafka is infected by a small kaiju, and is transformed into a new type of kaiju.

Despite having a similar premise of kaiju attacking humanity, Pacific Rim is not a good comparison for the show. The Kaiju Defense Force doesn't use giant robots, they use special combat suits created from materials harvested from kaiju corpses. The kaiju themselves have specific types (seven known types, leading Kafka to be designated as a new eighth type, hence the name of the show) with a range of sizes (though all still much larger than humans).

This show is fantastic. The humor, the action, the animation, it's all top quality. It's also a wild ride and I have absolutely no idea where it's going, to be honest. It's on episode 7 right now and they just keep throwing curve balls left and right. I think my favorite aspect is that, when not in his kaiju form, Kafka is just a regular dude surrounded by typical OP anime characters. Despite weeks of training, he is unable to perform the superhuman feats the rest of the Defense Force trainees can. Initially, he can't even use the power suit properly, which makes him unable to use most of the anti-kaiju weapons because they're too heavy. That, combined with his cheerful personality, makes Kafka a relatable and endearing main character.

Also, it's nice to have a main character in his 30s, even if it's physically painful for me to hear other characters call him old. Tentative 10/10, we'll see how the rest of the season holds up.

Tonari no Yokai-san

Summary: In an alternate reality where myths and legends are normal, everyday things, the small town of Fuchigamori is home to numerous supernatural beings living alongside humans.

This show has got some feels. It starts out as very heartwarming slice of life, focusing mostly on Buchio, a recently reborn nekomata, and Mutsumi, a young human girl who idolizes Jiro, the crow tengu who watches over the town. The stories are mostly separate, though they deal with some common themes from different perspectives.

As the show goes on, it starts hitting on heavy topics about love, loss, and family, the three major themes of the show. There are still heartwarming moments to be had, but they are outnumbered by the heavy emotional moments. To me, the main message of the show so far has been "Relationships of all kinds are painful, but the good ones are worth every moment of that pain."

I love Buchio, he's such a good character. He's trying his best, and he messes up, but he keeps trying; the lil' guy just needs so many hugs. And the exploration of Jiro as a character is fascinating to me. At first he seems like this calm, confident guy who always knows the right thing to say, always knows what to do, a steadfast guardian for the town. But in time we learn that he's a person like everyone else, suffering from fear, doubt, and loss just as much as anyone, and all he can do is try his best, just like Buchio.

Also there's at least one queer couple in the show, Wagen and Kazuhiko. The show refers to them as "partners" and doesn't elaborate further, but to me at least, it's pretty clear they're a couple.

The downside to the show for me is that it is a little slow. I love the characters and their interactions, but that is literally all the show has. It's 95% people sitting around talking and having emotional moments, so it can feel kinda dull at times. I would not recommend binging it, tbh; I'm watching it weekly as it updates on Crunchyroll, and I think that's probably the best way to watch it. 7/10.

A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics

Summary: A reverse isekai where young princess Sara da Odin and her faithful knight Livia de Udis teleport to modern day Japan to escape the rebellion that overthrew their kingdom and killed Sara's parents, the king and queen. Sara meets Sosuke Kaburaya, a private investigator, and convinces him to take her in off the street.

This show definitely does not start off with a bang. It very much gives off "weak story for the purpose of jokes and fanservice" vibes, and for several episodes, it looks like that's all it has to it. But episode 7 was a turning point where I realized how well they were actually writing the characters of Sara and Sosuke.

The show basically follows two stories. One is about Livia's attempts to make a living in this world, and is mostly just jokes and fanservice. The other is Sara and Sosuke, and this one focuses much more on their character growth and dynamic. I didn't even notice how their interactions smoothly changed over time from "Guy forced to take care of child from another world" to "father and daughter" until episode 7. The episode begins with Sosuke trying to figure out how to enroll Sara into school, something she expressed interest in previously. She has no citizenship, no form of ID, and no birth certificate with which to get said ID or citizenship, and she can't be enrolled in school without those. There's a scene where they calmly discuss options, and that was the first moment that I noticed their dynamic had changed. They don't throw blame around or get mad at each other, they just discuss options, realize they can't figure out a solution, and decide to set the issue aside for the day. Even when Sosuke comments that Sara's not good enough at acting to pretend to be his daughter, Sara doesn't get defensive; she agrees with him. She realizes Sosuke is trying his best to figure it out, and Sosuke genuinely wants to find a way for Sara to go to school.

They then spend the day on a case, following a guy around to see if he's cheating on his wife. It turns out he's just dropping a bit of spare money on horse races for fun, and Sosuke and Sara end up enjoying the day together instead. At the end of it, as they're walking back to the car, Sosuke stops and says "Hey, Sara. Do you want to be my daughter for real?" and Sara says yes.

That's the point that it hit me, that these two had already become a father-daughter duo, and I just hadn't realized it. Sosuke, a man who previously hated the idea of being responsible for the well-being of this random girl, casually suggests adopting her, and Sara, a proud princess who previously considered Sosuke just a useful peon, happily agrees.

To be honest, if the show was just about Sosuke and Sara's story, I would give it a 7/10. But so much of the show is devoted to the Livia story's jokes and fanservice, it's like they're afraid their audience would get bored of a serious plot. For that, I have to knock it down to 5/10.

#rating anime #once again I ran out of time before I talked about everything I wanted to #it takes me so long to organize my thoughts into something other than 'this thing good and that thing bad'#I also considered talking about some shows that I really disliked #but decided I don't really want be super negative on these posts #maybe I'll make a separate post for shows I gave up on partway through and explain why I dropped them #try to focus on explaining why certain aspects turned me off from the shows #rather than just saying they're bad

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thefirstknife · 2 years

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Following up on the ask about the Titan supers, going for the fantasy expectation question specifically- Titans are, thematically, front-line tacticians. People throw around Spartan, Paladin, Soldier, titles like that. What bungie seems to see them as is a big gorilla, or the Hulk, and I feel that does a disservice to the actual characterization of the class. Even if it does different things in gameplay, debuffing for example, running around punching is creatively boring. I'd like a utility supe

The problem is, how do you translate "front-line tactician" into a playable ability? A tactician is someone who makes plans to execute a strategy. Titans are well known to be able to make plans, both ahead of time and on the go, as well as improvise in the heat of battle, but that is simply incredibly metaphysical to make first person shooter gameplay out of.

As an example, would I like if, as a Titan, I could use destructible environment to quickly create a throwing melee or super? Sure. A game where a piece of concrete can be destroyed and then you can pick it up and use it to throw it at enemies or create a temporary barricade or do whatever else you might come up with to simulate a front-line tactician would be unfathomably cool. And also impossible to do in Destiny as it exists right now.

We can extend that to other classes as well. Warlocks are scholars and students of the arcane space magics and should be able to specialise in specific fields and then weave them as they see fit in millions of different ways, but instead their supers are; throw void orb, throw void orb but it tracks, you are void orb, solar sword on fire, solar sword on fire in the ground, electric fingers, electric beam and stick.

Hunters are supposed to be agile scouts and explorers who trek the wilderness and map the unknown, but I'm forced into known missions with fireteams instead of having an open world to map out alone for others. My supers are gun with three bullets, gun with six bullets, knives, bow with one shot, bow with three shots, knives, spin stick, throw stick and tornado.

There's very obviously a limit to what the class is in lore and setting and what it can be in gameplay. I totally understand the disappointment about the new super being seemingly "the same" as the last one ("element on fists, punch"), but I feel like a lot of the complaints and demands are quite literally impossible and unreasonable. And some of the complaints can be applied to other two classes as well.

I think it's good to tell Bungie that we would like more variety in supers, especially as it pertains to their viability in various content. I would 100% love for an additional super for stasis and strand and for Titans to have more ranged options because in a lot of cases you can't really get close range to enemies. Stomps, pushback, environmental hazards and other issues limit what we can use melee abilities for.

Obviously I've not played the strand stuff so I'm working with what we've been told and shown, but I think it's fairly obvious that strand IS a utility super. It's the most utility since void and overshield; strand not only gives you and your teammates damage reduction, but also controls the battlefield by suspending enemies. Like, by all accounts strand is a utility subclass with a lot of debuffing and buffing options and movement utilities.

I also think it's reductive to say that the new strand super is just "gorilla." It really isn't. I am not aware of gorillas being able to control the battlefield by suspending enemies in the air and locking down a whole section while empowering allies with damage reduction utilities. And being able to control the battlefield and empower your allies while you plan out your attack and dish out damage is, quite literally, a tactician move.

I think both Behemoth and Berserker are much closer to the front-line tactician fantasy since void. If anything is "gorilla" it's Fists of Havoc. A lot of people shit on Behemoth but if you really want utility and being able to perform multiple tasks at once with your super, Behemoth is one of the things to pick. Need to kill enemies? Got it. Need to freeze them while you deal with something else? Got it. Need to block off an area? Got it. Need to create barricades for your team? Got it. Your team needs overshield which you can give them by making stasis shards with your super? Got it. The problems with Behemoth not being used much are with a completely different section of issues, which is activity, encounter and enemy designs.

If Berserker is truly similar in any way, then it's in this this way imo, as it gives you options to use your super in different ways for different purposes depending on what you need. Like a tactician. I think people are way too focused on the idea that you use your fists and not at all focusing on the actual utility and options of the super. Though obviously if someone just isn't vibing with it, it's not something that people can change.

#destiny 2 #lightfall #strand #ask #long post #again i'm fully sympathetic to people who wanted something different. i would not be opposed to something different #but i think a lot of the complaints are just not something that is feasible as a gameplay mechanic #in destiny at least. destiny won't turn into a turn-based combat game or fully fledged RPG over night. or... ever #also if any titan super needs changing it's fists of havoc. they simply have no utility or any special use #they're vastly overshadowed by thundercrash and both other melee based supers have more utility #behemoth can also be used at range because you cast stasis crystals forward in a cone so it can be used while you're in cover #and it also provides more cover for you and teammates if you need it as well as freezes enemies if they're not immediately killed #strand also does cc and empowers allies. fists is just close range damage and nothing else. you can just use thundercrash #berserker seems very interesting to me and i can't wait to try it out. it may turn out bad or it may turn out op. or just average #i would ALSO love for a second super for stasis and strand. i will be banging my pots and pans about it until it happens

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