#opm has such a good cast but it is MASSIVE

[emikomusubi]

hello opm fandom pt 3 (pt 1 // pt 2)

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 65 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 98 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

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RATE THE EPISODE 94 Responses

Although a bit muted compared to last week, the response to this episode was still overwhelmingly positive, with 96.8% of people giving it a rating of 3 and higher. MAPPA’s on a roll!

Amazing!!!!

i just wanna see more!! 20 minutes is not enough. its too good

Awesome episode! Great pacing and the cgi was not too noticeable.

WAAAAYYYYY TOO HYPE

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 93 Responses

Mikasa and Levi took the spotlight this week! 30.1% of viewers felt most hyped up by Mikasa’s “explosive” reintroduction to the anime, while 22.6% were stoked to see Levi take on Porco to save Eren. 18.3% were most hyped by the Survey Corps taking on the Jaw Titan and the subsequent cliffhanger.

THE CGI CONTINUES TO BE A POINT OF CONTENTION. BE HONEST, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE EXECUTION OF CGI SO FAR THIS SEASON? 93 Responses

Just under 50% of responses seemed to indicate that they thought MAPPA was doing very well with the CGI utilized. A little over 15% stated that although it was not their favorite, they understood that it could be a lot worse. Other responses (in order) were being neutral about the CGI, not liking it, but understanding the need for its usage and folks who adamantly rejected 3D animation. 

I actually prefer CGI titans because of the way their movements looks, it looks almost slower, to me it fits very well with how the big titans are. Im not an anime guy at all so ive never seen cgi in other anime but i really like the way Mappa's CGI looks, it blends in very well. I dont like CGI people though, the shot with Jean throwing the marly soldier off the rooftop i didn't like very much.

I feel horrible saying this believe me... but I really vibed with the CGI up until this episode. I think maybe because it's the first time its been used on humans (OPM) rather then titans. I'm not massively put off though, I really apreciate the efforts this episode must have taken. TY Mappa

The episode is great no doubt, my only concern is the CG personally, as a 3D artist myself, I think I would prefer an all 2D medium like the battle at Stohess. Using 3D is fine as long as it blends seamlessly to the background, like kengan ashura, it's not perfect but bearable.

I honestly think that 2D will always 100% be better than cgi but I can understand why mappa is using cgi

It was fine in the other episodes, but in this episode, it looked overused and bit bad

HOW WAS EREN’S ROOFTOP SWAN DIVE? 94 Responses

When it came down to Eren’s swan rooftop dive (“Like a fallennn angel…”), the majority seemed to be impressed, with 68% giving it a score of 4 or higher. It was not a monolithic opinion however and many seemed also rated it poorly. Do better, Eren!

WHICH RETURNING CHARACTER’S ENTRANCE WAS YOUR FAVORITE IN THIS EPISODE? 94 Responses

The Survey Corps has returned! Of these reappearances, viewers most enjoyed Mikasa’s (48.9%), Levi’s (31.9%) and Sasha’s (14.9%) the most. Jean and Connie got a little less love, though we’re sure people were still happy to see them!

WHICH RETURNING CHARACTERS HAS THE BEST GLOW UP? 93 Responses

It would appear that the slight plurality sees Mikasa as having the best glow up out of the cast, followed by (in order) Eren, Sasha, Connie, Jean, Floch and Levi. The Old Captain doesn’t like to change up his style, we suppose. 

Eren didn't have a glow up- he had a glow down.

Mikasa can stomp on me please god

OF ALL THE ORIGINAL CAST, WE STILL HAVE NOT SEEM ARMIN, HANGE OR HISTORIA YET. WHICH OF THE THREE ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING NEXT? 93 Responses

In relation to the previous question, we still haven’t seen 3 major members of the cast. Armin, Hange and Historia. When we asked which of the three you were most looking forward to seeing next, the slight majority (52.7%) expressed their excitement for seeing Armin again, followed by 11.8% wanting to see Hange most. Some others have also expressed their desire to see Historia again. 17.2% simply could not choose and 10.8% stated that they simply didn’t care about the 3 characters.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE WARHAMMER TITAN? 90 Responses

The Warhammer received an overwhelmingly positive response, with the majority expressing much excitement over both its design and powers. 15.6% noted that the design was a bit too creepy for their liking, but the powers were awesome. And on the flip side, 10% noted the Titan’s design was rather cool, in contrast to its rather OP ability. A select few did not enjoy either aspect. 

Would probably enjoy it more if it belonged to someone that likely is not going to be just cannon fodder

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEW UNIFORMS? 92 Responses

The Survey Corps returned sporting new uniforms to much fanfare. 30.4% of respondents really enjoy the upgrade, finding the suits to be badass. 23.9% couldn’t find the words and just settled for pure hype. 20.7% enjoy the new uniforms just as much as they enjoy the classic uniforms. 12% felt it was a much needed upgrade, though 10.9% don’t care at all about the uniform change.

I like both but I prefer the old design

EREN SAYS TO MIKASA, “YOU GUYS ACTUALLY CAME.” THIS IS FOLLOWED UP BY MIKASA ASKING EREN TO COME HOME. DOES THIS INSINUATE THAT EREN WENT TO THE MAINLAND ON HIS OWN? 90 Responses

The circumstances of the Survey Corps’ presence on the mainland continues to be a mystery. When we asked about whether Eren was there alone or not a few episodes ago, the majority believed that he was either there alongside the Survey Corps or was sent there by them. Overall, the feelings seem to be the same (that Eren came alongside the Survey Corps). 45.6% think that Mikasa’s words may have some other meaning and that things are way too planned out to be coincidence. 18.9% believe that Eren did go rogue, while 15.6% think that Eren didn’t necessarily go rogue, but wasn’t working with them for a while either. The remaining 20% have already been spoiled on this particular plot point.

THE ATTACK ON LIBERIO SEEMS TO PARALLEL THE BREACH OF SHIGANSHINA. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS EVENT IN COMPARISON? 92 Responses

Now that both sides of the conflict have had their rude awakening, we asked how you guys felt about the two events comparatively. 33.7% feel that both attacks were tragic, but still feel more empathy toward the Eldians on Paradis than they do toward those who were raised on Marley. At a tie, 22.8% of respondents felt that the victims of the Liberio attack got what was coming with them, while another 22.8% felt about the same amount of sympathy for the victims on both sides. 10.9% feel this is way worse than what happened in Shiganshina and feel more sympathy for the victims in Liberio. 

I am yet to know the goals behind this attack.

Marley did this countless times so I don’t feel bad for them. I kind of feel for eldians tho bc they are brainwashed from a young age to give up their lives for a country who doesn’t give a shit about them. 

Honestly they deserve what Eren is doing to them. Excluding Falco, no one outside of Paradis has earned my sympathy, even with the additional context.

SADLY, UDO AND ZOFIA DID NOT SURVIVE THE ATTACK ON LIBERIO. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THEIR DEATHS? 91 Responses

Udo and Zofia have joined the ranks of characters who tagged along with the main cast for a while only to be killed off for character development. 25.3% anticipated at least one of them to die, but not both. Another tie on this poll, 24.2% stated that they were disappointed and was hoping to see more of them, while another 24.2% didn’t care about them at all. 14.3% are happy to ditch the focus on them in favor of more familiar characters, and 8.8% feel pure and utter devastation. 

Good riddance Warrior scum

Sad but allows for Gabi’s development 

sad but okay. death is common in this anime.

EREN AND FLOCH’S LAST INTERACTION IN S3 WAS A VERY TENSE ARGUMENT. NOW IT SEEMS FLOCH IS DEDICATED TO EREN’S CALL TO ACTION, SHIFTING THE “NECESSARY DEVIL” STATUS FROM ERWIN ONTO HIM. WHAT DO YOU THINK THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS LIKE NOW? 91 Responses

Eren and Floch were anything but BFF’s at the closing of season 3. Now Floch seems to be wholly devoted to Eren’s cause… What changed? 28.6% believe that nothing has actually changed in terms of their relationship, but that Floch simply just latched onto Eren’s fight in need of a new devil. 23.1% feel that they still aren’t friends, but are in more comfortable “ally” territory. 15.4% aren’t sure what to make of it. Smaller handfuls feel that they either grew to become friends and/or co-conspired to attack Liberio together. 22% are already spoiled on the details. 

Floch is easily persuaded...and annoying 🤷‍♀️

WE SEE GABI GRAB THE GUARD’S FUN AFTER WITNESSING SASHA KILL HIM. WHAT DO YOU THINK MIGHT HAPPEN? 90 Responses

Gabi moves headstrong into the fight, wanting to play her part in defending her hometown. A large chunk of anime only viewers have been spoiled on future developments for her character. But for those still in the dark - 24.4% feel that she will successfully kill a member of the Survey Corps. 21.1% aren’t sure what to expect, while 10% think she will only manage to injure someone in the Survey Corps. Smaller amounts feel she won’t be successful in any capacity or may even die herself.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

Epic episode, survey corps come back, OH YEAH, but I wished they didn’t use CGI on humans and bettered the CGI on Titans.

It really makes me sad how Eren is continuing the cycle of revenge by killing innocent Marleyan civilians, but it makes sense for his character. 

Real cool ep but w h e r e a r m i n

It sucks that I like the warriors and the Corp bc both of them are victims in different way so seeing them have to go head to head sucks. They all deserve better

SO great I loved it! However, I missed Reiner, Falco, and Zeke. I hope they're okay :-) RIP Udo and Zofia :-(

I think I need more dialogue between the old crew to really settle back in with them. I kinda believe that Mappa's still trying to 'click', they obviously can't just get it right immediately. Other then that I loved the titan scenes, more than ODM scenes 😔

This was a great episode and I was literally vibrating in my seat from excitement! I think MAPPA is doing a great job with the animation and the music works really well with the action. Can’t wait for the rest of the season!

I miss wit studio

Willy seems to have his first daughter really early, he looks like 30 !

I’d say the episode as a whole is a solid 8-9/10, the cgi in some parts really ruins the moment for me

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 88 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Chapter 131:  Won’t Lose

Story:  You Can’t Keep A Good Hero Down

No need to ask: this chapter is not about the showdown between Tatsumaki and Psykos-Orochi.  In fact, it’s not immediately about fighting at all.  It’s about the other thing One-Punch Man does so well -- look across its very large cast and develop who they are.

Within the universe, the last few days have been crazy.  Three days ago, Saitama went to visit Mumen Rider after the latter was beaten up by the then-unknown Garou and life was normal if you didn’t keep up on hero affairs.  Two days ago, the Monster Association announced its presence by launching synchronised attacks on multiple cities and then following up with an ultimatum delivered in blood to the Hero Association.  Yesterday, the newspapers were full of the Monster Association’s attack on the Hero Association and City S was imperiled by a crazy-huge monster.  And today! Today!  City Z is in shambles as a giant tower, topped with a giant glowing monster, is hauled up through it.  It’s visible for miles around.

Four days from ‘normal’ to ‘just pray’

If to the general public the warm-up act to the Apocalypse seems to be tuning up for a performance, then to the heroes injured in the events of the last few days, it is an insult.  One they’re not prepared to ignore.   The action in the first half is centred in the Hero Hospital in City S, which is close enough to City Z that both Garou and Saitama had no trouble getting there for a meal.  Close enough in fact that Metal Bat could see the tower from a vantage point.

the most unlikely HQ ever: the Hero Hospital in City S

We go from hero to hero answering that call.  First, Metal Bat!  He gives Zenko the slip and gallops off in the direction of the obscenity.   We then follow up to see that Mumen Rider has come to a similar conclusion and has slipped out to cycle off to the stricken city.  Tank Top Master joins him, the two making an unlikely, but most wholesome equipage.

Onward!

I thought that the Way of the Tank Top sounded a bit cultish, boy howdy are they!  I want more of them. It’s interesting to see the Tank Toppers debate what to do before resolving to follow after their master.  Not to be outdone, the Blizzard Group stops moping and runs off after them.  Finally, we see Snek, Lightning Max and Heavy Kong jump up and go too.  Heroes may be prepared to work alone, but being outdone by another just won’t do!

a bit of professional jealousy has its place

Suiryu putting RESPECT on Snek and Lightning Max, perfect. Saitama may have beaten the monsters, but it was they who came forward when none of his fellow martial artists would.  He points out this unwelcome fact to his fellow martial artists, both persuading them to let the professionals handle it and at last, clearly stating what his new goal in life is.

ahhh, there it is, the resolution

The action then switches to the other scene of human(ish) interaction: deep under the Monster Association, where Saitama is groping in the dark for any way out.

Fractured Broken Bone, um I mean Flashy Flash, keeping his cool whatever his predicament

Saitama, Flashy Flash and the monster who now has a name (Monako) has got to be some of the best comic relief ever.  Flashy Flash is too proud to admit that he’s trapped and doesn’t want to risk breaking his sword in trying to extricate himself.  Saitama’s ongoing misfortune with his head.  Monako turning out to be the only one with two braincells to rub together in solving the problem of how to get Flashy Flash out.  It’s all too good.

I’m not afraid for them -- I know they’ll be fine and it’s just a matter of when they join the fray that’s about to erupt far above them.

in the meantime, this has got to be the funniest thing ever

Meta

The Revolution Will Be Televised

The changes from the webcomic continue to make themselves manifest.  The manner of the showdown between hero and monster will have consequences that are going to shake society. This isn't a tiny scuffle in the middle of the night in a deserted part of town, like it was in the webcomic. Yup, there's still daylight, there's not just a huge tower, but a giant glowing monster on top of it a fight that people knew would be happening, thanks to media leaks and it follows on from a massive monster attack two days ago.   Win or lose, the Hero Association and its actions are going to be under scrutiny as never before.

We don’t need the webcomic to know that despite the very heartening rally of heroes to the scene, this night is unlikely to cover the HA in glory.

Heroes are Special

Honestly, Suiryu encapsulates best what it is about a hero that makes them special: the spirit with which they push themselves to help no matter the circumstances.  The strength is secondary.

And to see that he’s specifically watching Snek and Lightning Max, ahh, my heart, my heart couldn’t take it.

All these serious heroes bravely struggling forward despite their wounds, giving up safe beds for others, shaving at their well-beings for the sakes of others. They have their quirks and flaws, their professional jealousies but at the end of the day, as long as they can move, they're out to do what they can.   That value is the thread that unites all heroes, however rowdy or calm, strong or weak, pleasant or difficult they are.

What are they hoping to achieve?  Most of them aren’t going to fight: they’re not deluding themselves that they can in their current conditions.  They’re there to do the other thing that heroes do, help despite the toughest of conditions. There are people who need freeing from rubble, maybe a few fugitive monsters to be eliminated, routes to clear for emergency staff, and hold a perimeter around the battlefield.  Tank Top Master lifting rubble will mean that people whom it would have taken hours (or days) for a crew with heavy equipment to reach will get help in minutes. His having the humility to commit to retraining and restrict himself to helping is amazing.  

The only hero who is definitely out to fight is Metal Bat.  So much for wondering what difference his participation would have made, we’re about to find out!  Which means, unfortunately, finding out what he can’t do.

If we ever needed reminding that the people who make it as pro-hereos are good, this is it. It's really going to make for a painful contrast with what we see of the Neo Heroes.

That said, I think I can see some potential for the growth of the tension we observed in the webcomic between B-Class and lower heroes and the top heroes. If they can avoid being dragged into the fight, the Blizzard Group and Tank Toppers will help hundreds, if not thousands, of people.  This night will cement in peoples’ minds that it’s the lower-class heroes who are accessible to them when they’re in need. It really will put pressure on the Hero Association to provide them with better equipment, access to training, and pure appreciation, the things they currently reserve for the A- and S-Class heroes.

Look, no tits! Woohoo!

At long last, much overdue, Murata draws a female monster that doesn’t have pointless tits hanging improbably out.   Much love to Manako, whose survival we hope in.

no, this is the funniest sequence: Saitama embarrassed at misgendering a monster. It’s both incongruous and wholesome.

[diary-of-deadweight]

Being op isn’t all it’s made out to be.

Summary: you’re strong, hella strong, so strong that your aspirations of becoming a hero are dwindling until a bald hero makes his appearance.

Authors note: this is a BNHA x opm crossover fic that I’ve been wanting to write for a while but had to get some shit out of the way first, hope you enjoy this.

Ever since your were a child in kindergarten you always wanted to become as great of a hero as your idol, who didn’t live in Musutafu like most heroes but in a once populated town called City Z; it all started during recess just as Billy Beale, the class bully, followed by his nameless goons, was about to kick sand from the sand pit into your friend’s eyes for the hell of it, you stepped up to protect them by putting yourself between Billy and them as you punched him in the gut with your small chubby fist that sent him flying further then you’d expected.

Billy’s goons were left stood there, faces unsettlingly pale as they watched their group leader being punched harder then normal, scared stiff as identical dark patches expanded across their trousers from fright as they got laughed and pointed at for pissing their pants by the other kids in your class while you looked at your tiny hands in awe and shock as if they held all the answers you’ve been searching for, whilst also taken back at how much power they held without trying; that was when you found your calling to become a hero like your idol like many other quirk possessing kids across Japan and a hero is what you’d be even if the odds were stacked against you.

Even if you did get in trouble for engaging in a ,obviously, one sided fight and a scolding from your parents that were soon subsided by them not being able to be mad at you for long, especially when you were jumping up and down, waving your arms wildly screaming, “I HAVE A QUIRK! LOOK AT ME MOMMY, LOOK DADDY! I HAVE A QURIK!!”

Flash forward 13 years later and you were perched upon a wooden bench in a flowerless garden downtown just as a gust of early January air came by, making you involuntarily shiver in your heavily layered form as it brushed the honey brown leaves littering the street an inch across your peripheral vision as if it was playing monopoly with itself as a second draft of winter air ruffled the bare naked trees in the nearby area, the sounds of bustling city life just barely reached your ears, leaving you with a sense of serenity which was greatly appreciated while yet a tad unnerving thanks to your constant run ins with the League of villains that left you with less the pleasant memories and all within the spam of your first few months of attending UA none the less; they started out as nothing more then a dysfunctional group when they made their grand debut in the USJ in hopes of killing Allmight, only to find you, your classmates, Aizawa and pro hero 13 instead which lead to an all out brawl ,after standing around all stiff limbed and breaths being caught in your throats at the sight of villains somehow infiltrating a disclosed location; only to be bested by Allmight who finished off the nomu, with some minor help as you punched the brain dead bird monster off of an injured Aizawa and into a wall while knocking some lesser known villains off their feet by the blowback of the punch itself earning you some praises from fellow classmates and heroes alike which, at the time made you feel all warm inside, now didn’t make you feel as if you achieved anything really the more time that passed by and the more times you’ve ended things with a singular blow making you scream to the heavens, scaring off some birds in the process, “WHY DOES IT ALWAYS END WITH ONE PUNCH, DAMN IT!!!”

After the disaster that taken place in Kamino Ward, leading to Allmight’s retirement after giving all for one a farewell gift in the disguise of a knuckle sandwich and a unforeseen future that sent everyone in a blind panic to find the next symbol of peace meanwhile the villains lurking in the shadows took this as a blessing to wreak havoc, resulting in the percentage of villain activity to skyrocket more then ever before, unsettling the civilians even more then they already were came the introduction of the big three during a relatively calm day of school, well as calm as it could get, only for Mirio to offer a challenge to fight everyone in your class singlehandedly which peaked your interest greatly as you thought that you’ve finally found your match after defeating Midoriya, Bakugou and todoroki during the sports festival awhile back, coming out with your skin unscathed, your sports wear a complete mess of rips, punctures and burnt cloth that it was absolutely baffling to everyone in attendance, some believing that it all came down to your quirk being the solution and leaving it at that.

Turns out that not even the great Mirio Togata could take you down as you exhausted him easily with your unlimited stamina, insane durability at everything he threw at you and godlike reflexes, countering his attacks with those you’ve picked up from tv with your photogenic memory even if he switched strategies form time to time, all with a blank look on your face that left him struggling to figure out your next move as throughout most of the fight you just stood there with the patience of a saint. Needless to say that your ambitions of becoming a hero were at an all time low at this point as you found yourself becoming less and less committed to your craft to the point where even your most oblivious of classmates were starting to notice the dying fire within your heart, the loss of feeling such emotions as happiness, excitement, fulfilment, exhilarating among other positive emotions but most of all...you can’t remember the last time you’ve felt the heart pounding, adrenaline rush a fight could bring...you didn’t feel much of anything as you once did 13 years ago ever since coming to terms that you were practically unstoppable to overcome that you don’t think that even Allmight could beat you in an arm wrestling match!

Which all lead up to where you were now, sat upon that bench, now digging through your pockets for the class transfer papers just as a bald male in his 30s, dressed from head to toe in a orange jumpsuit, matching set of ruby red gloves and boots with a white cape that fluttered and swayed behind him in the breeze as he made a checklist of how his day went wrong which he spoke out loud as there was no one around to glance at him with concerning or creeped out looks “I lost sight of Genos, my phone is dead so I can’t contact him or nothing, on top of that,” he stopped his chatter to inhale air deeply into his lungs, “HE HAS ALL THE GROCERIES!!”

“Oi, old man,” you said just as you looked over your arm that was resting against the back of the bench, “mind keeping your thoughts to yourself, that would be greatly-“ your breath caught in your throat mid-way your rant as you got a good look at who you were unknowingly scolding, eyes widening as memories of your childhood flashed before you in snapshots.

A man stood before what looked like remnants of a monster dressed in a orange jumpsuit, red boots and gloves now stained with the monsters blood, white cape flapping in the wind, a shiny bald head complete with a deadpan face, after getting a little girl out of the crossfire of the monsters attack in record time, proclaiming to the self proclaimed vaccine man that he was a hero for fun before proceeding the kill him in one blow. The man you wished to follow in the footsteps of. The hero known as capped baldy...not really a name that screamed hero like names such as Allmight and Midnight but it screamed hero to you

“Oh my god...am I dreaming? Capped baldy in Musutafu!!!” You then squinted your eyes into slits as your voice dropped a octave “ you ARE capped baldy? Right?” He only grunted in response, not really expecting to find his first fan in...what did you say? Musutafu? Well...he was a looonnnggg way from home just for some sales shopping that might never happen again; You squealed for the first time in a long time since you were a child as you ran over to him within a blink of an eye, leaving him momentarily stunned as he regained his bearings as when you called him by his hero name that he became civil with overtime when he saw that there were other heroes with even shittier names then his own.

“I-I’m a massive fan of your work!” You began, already feeling yourself shake in the presence of your idol as you hoped that it wasn’t visible, “I’ve watched you fight monsters ever since I was a little child and from then on I’ve always wanted to be just like you when I grow up” you concluded as you peered up at him to notice that he had a shadow casted upon his eyes.

“Trust me kid you don’t wanna be like me...having a lot of power in your possession can only lead to a loss of many things, I don’t feel the thrill of entering battle anymore, my heart doesn’t pump as fast as it use to...I’m stuck in a constant state of melancholy.” he stated as he saw a lot of himself in you, when he was is middle school he wanted to be the strongest hero there ever was, then when he turned 23 he trained so Intensively that his hair fell out. He didn’t want you to wish upon the same fate that granted him the ability to incapacitate or straight up kill a being in one punch no matter how strong they are. He just couldn’t, you deserved better then that.

“That sucks because the second I turned 5 my quirk-“ He quirked a brow at the word, never having heard it up until now, “my power ,basically, when I punched this little asshole but ending up sending him flying further that I thought I would’ve...ever since then I’ve managed to defeat villains, students heck even heroes alike with a single punch that my ambition to becoming a hero has vanished chunk by chunk, piece by piece until nothing of it remained. It started to become less and less of a priority to me that I went and asked for a class transfer form hero course to general studies because it’s gotten that bad,” you paused as you felt the tears began to build up steadily within the corners of you eyes, inhaling deeply you asked the one question you’ve been meaning to ask him ever since you were little, “how do you cope with it?”

A silence hung between the two of you as a gust of air battered your frames, whipping your hair and his cape wildly before calming down once more, the sound of your heartbeat was just about the only thing you heard in the deafening silence besides yours and his semi-synchronised breathing, the rustle of trees and bushes; your hands began to felt more clammy as time passed on quicker and you swore you felt a bead of sweat trail past your temple, almost phasing out entirely until you saw the bald mans mouth move.

“Come again?”

“I didn’t, if anything I try to live my best life even with my overwhelming strength, I’m still looking for someone who I can take on without killing them in a single punch, I’ve met so many strong opponents who could easily surpass me yet I could still lay them out flat with out trying as if they’ve never progressed at all...but the take away from this kid is that even though you may be the most powerful person in the room doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there who will push you to your limits, so it takes months, years, decades, try and hold out until then even if your tried from the same thing from dusk till dawn. All you have to do is have patience, until then you can kick everybody’s ass to your hearts desire.” You both shared a chuckle at his finishing statement just a monotonous voice rang out from behind the caped baldy.

“Sensei! I’ve seen to have lost you awhile back and for that I apologise greatly for” the male bowed low, letting get a right good look at his synthetic blonde strands before he stood back to his full height, his eyes reminded you of Mina’s eyes as the whites of his eyes were completely pitch black, making his golden orbs pop out, his face was smooth as a babies bottom, his cybernetic body obviously went through some upgrades since the last time you saw him on tv,unlike his sensei, Genos was wearing some casual civilian clothes so he wouldn’t get spotted in public.

“Ah no need to be so...you, anyways we should better get back to city Z in case there have been any sightings,” Saitama said nonchalantly as he waltzed over to his companion, shopping in hand, before turning back to you with a minuscule smile upon his usually bland face.

“I hope to see you again someday kid, when we do we shall see who’s stronger, sound like a plan?” He rose a brow awaiting your response,

“Your on baldy and I’ll win for sure” he smirked at your eagerness before fishing his for something before whipping out a piece a paper from almost nowhere, scribbled something upon it before hanging it to over to you just as the pair took their leave.

You looked down at the price of paper which read:

‘You’ve got spunk kid, gimme a call someday when your feeling confident enough to spar. - saitama’

Below it was a combination of numbers you presumed was his number, a wide spread grin appeared on your face as you tried to control your excitement form leaking out and making you look like a right weirdo, you pocketed the slip of paper into your coat polecat before taking out the class transfer papers out of the other one, looking at the form you remembered his words.

“Even if it takes months, years or even decades...all it takes is a bit of patience” with that you tore up the form into pieces, tossing them up in the air like confetti, watching it fall to the sidewalk like fresh snow before making your way to school and bumping into a skittish Midoriya who asked about your change of personality and all you said was as you looked up into the grey cloud clad sky with a smile.

“I had an epiphany from an unlikely source”

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

has there ever been a series where you read the manga and also watched the anime but didn’t like the anime as much as the manga?

There have actually been a couple, yeah, but it’s worth mentioning that a fair amount of these are stuff I read or watched multiple years ago, and if I were to reread or rewatch them my opinions might not be the same.

I’ve only read and watched Death Note once each, but I recall liking the manga a little bit more. In being such a text heavy story I felt like the manga letting me choose my own pace gave it a sort of better flow than what the anime had. I recall enjoying the manga’s ending a bit more too, there’s like some timeskip where a Kira cult still remains and worships him and I think that’s pretty cool and really believable, given the massive impact he had on the world I think it makes sense that some people would be into it as a religion, it wouldn’t just blow over like I remember being the case in the anime.

I honestly prefer One Punch Man’s manga to its anime, entirely because of the artwork. The OPM manga is probably the best looking manga I’ve ever seen, the artwork is jawdropping. Everything from the backgrounds to the characters to the shading to the panelling is absolutely phenomenal, and I also think Saitama looks even funnier in the manga specifically because he’s generally drawn and particularly coloured in so much less detail than the rest, it’s really great. One Punch Man season 1 is just straight sakuga for its entire run time so between that and the manga it’s hard to pick, but season 2 looks like shit and the manga fucking obliterates it, though I’d still say I prefer the manga to season 1 as well honestly.

Like 6 years ago I read the first 13 volumes of the Blue Exorcist manga, and I recall not liking the anime nearly as much. It does that sort of harsh divergence from the source material for its own original ending thing and I didn’t think that last arc was good at all. Now granted I believe the second season adapts the stuff that was cut from the manga, so it’s like you watch 19 episodes of season 1, then season 2, then go back and finish season 1, and maybe season 2′s great but I’ve not seen it so.

I’ve also read 13 volumes of Black Butler and I don’t know if I should count this because I don’t think I’ve seen an entire episode of the anime, I’ve just seen clips in passing from like when my brother watched it or something, but I feel like I remember disliking the dub cast (this was when I watched dubs whenever possible) and thinking the anime artwork was ugly, so I guess I prefer the manga there too.

Another one I have no idea if I should count is Dragon Ball, because I absolutely adore the manga, and what I have seen of the anime seems to be worse, that 4 hour Frieza fight as well as comparisons of TFS’ sped up fights against their original lengths suggests that the anime fucking drags, but I’ve not actually seen it. Or rather, I’ve seen many full episodes, but I don’t know how many, I couldn’t really tell you which episodes, and that was all just me watching what my little brother was watching. So if I ever were to actually watch all of Dragon Ball it’s possible I would actually like the anime more.

Last would definitely be Koe no Katachi. The anime benefits greatly from voice acting, music, colour and motion, and in all technical elements I’d call it a way better product, the manga doesn’t even look that good to be honest. However, what was cut from the narrative hurts the story quite a lot. In particular, entire characters like Mashiba are barely even characters, and a lot of the sort of friendship building scenes, like the film-making stuff, are cut out, so with all that stuff gone the film has a bit less to say and the bridge fallout scene is significantly less impactful. And then there’s also what happens while Shouya is comatose, in the film it’s a pretty dream sequence that amounts to him waking up, but in the manga it’s the Shouko chapters, where we actually see her go and try mend the broken relationships, and the actual Shouko chapter too where there are dialogue boxes with no dialogue in them, which is a pretty fucking awesome way to convey deafness, and the loss of those chapters hurts the movie as well, less characterisation for its main cast and the pacing in the latter half of the movie feels fairly rushed in comparison to its manga counterpart too. So yeah, Koe no Katachi is a better manga than an anime imo. If the movie were 2 movies, or maybe 2 long OVAs, or fuck even a TV anime since it’s KyoAni and the visuals really wouldn’t suffer much, I think they could have given the manga a fuller adaptation and it would’ve been better, but we didn’t get that so.

And then that’s it.

[simon-newman]

Newman's List of Anime 2015 - Part 20: Overlord.

First thing first: I am sorry this took SO FUCKING LONG to write.

The point is - I am more fluent in writing about bad movies or bad shows. When I get to write about good ones I rewrite the stuff for eternity trying to get it just right...

And I am still not satisfied with the result - dammit!

Without further delay...

Another cliche setting lately...

A character travels to a different world.

Or more specifically - a world where rules of the game he's been playing apply (if not straight game-world that is).

Ever since SAO showed up it's ugly head the anime industry exploded with such stories...

Sad as it is most of them were just as bad or even worse than fucking SAO.

And yes - SAO is a piece of shit.

So now. Lets look into one good example of such story I've found...

Overlord

TBH this is another title I didn't even plan on watching at first.

The moment I read the premise I was like "Yeah. NOPE" and went on to watch something else.

How wrong I was?

Verily.

The thing about Overlord is that it doesn't fuck around.

There's no EMO kid for a protagonist who claims only a cheater could outplay him.

No target for this tiresome romantic bullshit who at some point will have to be saved by our Uber player.

No.

Overlord knows what it wants to be and does it.

And it wants to be an anime about a guy who gets stuck in a body of nigh invincible Elder Lich with an army of followers who consider him to be a Supreme Being - and Evil Overlord.

*ba dum tss*

I mean... He has the looks down perfectly.

  I really liked the feel of power the show gives to people watching it. But lets begin with the actual premise:

It is early established that our Protagonist - Momonga - has maxed out his game level.

He and other players of his guild Ainz Ooal Gown - all playing monster characters - banded together to defend themselves from other players who hunted them for their choice of character race.

Together they created a massive dungeon infamous for being impossible to clear - the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

And since they're playing monsters anyway they decided to play the part and customized everything to fit the theme of Evil Fortress of Doom.

At the end - after 12 years of playing - Momonga was the last player of the guild to play regularly.

With the servers closing he decided to stay online till the very end - to properly part with the game he's invested so much time in.

He gives his last orders to the NPCs created by his friends and includes one little change in the description of tomb's Overseer NPC. Then the end comes...

And he's not forcibly logged out.

Momonga finds himself trapped - his console doesn't open and he can't contact the GMs. What's more - the NPCs surrounding him start to show concern over his visibly agitated state.

They change from programmed game constructs into true, living creatures.

Everything within Nazarick becomes reality - the Tomb itself, it's inhabitants and Momonga's skeletal body.

A body of an Eclipse - a powerful, undead magician.

It doesn't take long for Momonga to figure out the basics of how his skills work now.

The real problem he's facing is how the NPCs see him.

 The head of all the supreme beings and a merciful leader who stayed behind with us until the end.

  For the Guardians of Nazarick - a group of Boss NPCs created by the guild - Momonga is the Supreme One: the one and only true ruler of Nazarick, an evil overlord who guides them, an ascended being of unlimited power and even greater wisdom, infallible and inerrant - a being equal or superior to gods.

With this in mind all the Guardians swear their eternal loyalty to Momonga - pretty much forcing him to play the part as they explore the world they were transported to.

But enough with me describing the plot or this entire review will last for a few dozen pages.

What's important is that Momonga decides to secretly search for other players and takes on the name of Ainz Ooal Gown.

His pan is to spread the name of his guild so that other players can hear of it - a goal his Guardians accidentally misinterpret as a plan to take over the world they arrived in.

For the world they ended up in is not same as the game world of YGGDRASIL.

It's a different place altogether.

True - it has the magic from the game which surprises Ainz at first and indicates that someone from the game appeared in this world much earlier in time.

Ainz begins his quest to explore the world and quickly establishes that being a lvl 100 character here is pretty much breaking the system.

High level angel? More like a minor nuisance.

  Remember the feel of power thing I mentioned above?

This is what all this exposition above was getting to.

Nothing in the new world can even compare to Ainz. He's just THAT powerful here.

With this the anime focuses on the story and characters foremost. And I'll be honest - the anime does a great job in that regard.

We don't get to see much of ALL the guardians or other NPCs - the anime doesn't last this long.

What we get to see is that they're all individuals with distinct personalities like the people who created them - something Ainz will never fail to recognize.

The guardians are like children of the people who were his only friends and he'll go to great lengths to protect them while they in turn are ready to die for him.

The battles are still there - don't get me wrong. The battles are awesome and work greatly.

The point is - they're always a part of something bigger. The fight itself poses no challenge to our Protagonist AT ALL.

It's the same as with One Punch Man - the fight is won the moment Ainz or any of the Guardians decides to get serious.

Shit. They don't need to cast a spell or throw a punch.

All they need to do is to... Hug an opponent. Yes - really.

Well... Death by sword. Death by broken bones. Death by crushing. There’s not much difference, right? You die at the end.

In the end - baring the last fight in the anime - Overlord focuses on Ainz learning stuff about his New World and being awesome while doing it.

And by awesome I mean dark as fu*k.

He slowly grows into the Overlord the Guardians see him to be.

Partially because of his actions and partially due to his Lich body suppressing his human emotions.

Now - a warning word for those who might want to watch this show.

It's brutal and bloody.

People are going to fucking die and die brutally, painfully and amusingly. The Guardians are EVIL and shit is getting DARK frequently.

And yet it's still fun to watch and it gets a bunch of funny scenes as well.

What's more - it's a damn good story.

Not to spoil much of what's going to happen in the later episodes I'll tell you only this.

Remember the thing I mentioned about Overseer NPC?

It's a beautiful succubus whose description included a bit about her being a slut.

On a whim Momonga changed that part so that Albedo would be in love with him.

Their interactions are mostly funny from there on partially thanks to Momonga being... Well... A walking skeleton...

There's this little bit however when Ainz is going to seriously risk his life and it seems to Albedo like he is saying his farewells.

The ensuing scene is a really touching exchange between them.

Yes - a truly well done romantic scene between a succubus and a Lich.

Better love story than Twilight... Well... Actually... Better love story than most of the shit we see nowadays.

  Now.

The animation is done by Madhouse and looks absolutely beautiful.

Just like with OPM the studio doesn't disappoint and delivers a truly breathtaking spectacle which only pales in comparison to... To the source material - the illustrations of which look like Death Metal album covers.

Yes - the show is lightened in animation and (as I've heard on the web) the story is actually softened as well to better fit the anime format.

IMO this worked greatly as making the story even darker might have ended with something repulsive for most of the audiences.

And with the story and characters of Overlord being the strongest points this would have potentially killed the show.

In the end I also wanted to mention the music.

You probably know by now that I don't pay much attention to it.

Yes - I listen to it while watching but I barely recall anything after I'm done.

Music in Overlord... Well... I remember it clearly.

It. Is. Awesome.

A truly great finishing touch for a really good show - silver medalist of 2015 anime I’ve watched.

With this in mind...

  Final Score: 8/10  +Newman's Mark of Quality Status: Completed Sentence: Stuck in a skeletal body in the company of a horny succubus (I mean... It’s great but... There’s something missing...)

  Previously reviewed title: One Punch Man.

Next reviewed title: Yamada-kun to Nana-jin no Majo.

[atomicpowered]

Horrifyingly enough we’re already halfway through the anime season so I’m just going to post my new season picks and thoughts while I have a spare minute.

Snk- Why not at this point, im interested to see what studio WIT has learned in the interim between seasons as well as what the hell, it’s massively popular and I’d be missing out if not 

Bnh- This is another one, but I stand by what I have said before and even some decent staff can’t save this show from being ‘just okay’ in my opinion. The animation was serviceable to good at points but I think that it falls under the OPM curse of having to live up to a phenomenal manga and all the trappings that come with that status. I still love Boku no Hero a lot and am going to catch it every week! 

Shingeki no Bahamut- this, this one was interesting in the season it aired. I didn’t even realize it was for a gacha game until looking up stuff about it later. It was super silly and fun with a great cast and REALLY good visuals. I loved the protagonists and it really felt like tiger and bunny in the sense that it was a very humble beginning of an anime that really flew on it’s character interaction. It had a lot of flaws but I’m looking forward to it

Kekkai Sensen- this one was like a holy grail of a second season pick and here we are with it at the door. If you haven’t seen kekkai yet i implore you to stop what you are doing and check it out because it’s basically everything I love about anime in a show. 

Eromanga sensei- this is one I just want to talk about and wont be picking up but all y’all out here shitting on dragonmaid which is low tier “bad" at worst and shit like this author is still running around making garbage like this. For shame.

Natsume- 6th season, nothing much to say except season 5 was really good with a few stand out excellent episodes. Makes me cry as always. 

Grandblue- this one might also mirror SnB and be able to stand on it’s own, the visuals in the promotional two episodes that were already released cannot be ignored at the very least. I always really liked the art they used in grand blue, and the quality of merchandise for it is pretty staggering. But that didn’t stop kan colle’s anime from being shit so who knows. I’ll at least give it a chance.

Clockwork Planet- This is one I know next to nothing about and xebec has a... loose... track record but I’ll give it a shot I guess if I have the time?

Recreators- looks like a nest of bad light novel tropes, could be the hit of the season in terms of being an absolute trainwreck. It’s an original project at least? 

Uchouten Kazoku- Another amazing anime that I thought would never ever get a second season, but I guess the books are selling better than I thought because Once Again here we are. This is another one that suggest dropping everything to watch. It made it’s way on to my recommendations for a reason last time. 

Sakura Quest- I’ve heard a lot of scuttlebutt about this one, so called spiritual successor to shirobako and such. We’ll see. 

Tsugumomo- This one... the artist would probably be better off just doing something pornographic and be done with it, the plot is barely held together between the sexy drawings. But the manga is one of the best drawn manga I have ever seen. The artist is a monster, a SSS class art demon. He understands musculature and draftsmanship better than almost anyone on the market today. He’s constantly pushing himself to evolve his art, even learning 3d modelling just because he wanted good reference for the school he was drawing. So he just... modeled the whole thing. He even gives Murata a big run for his money. The anime adaption is not going to live up to to his level so anything I was interested in it for is pretty much gone. 

Atom the beginning- This one is going to be big money. Multiple prolific studios working on it, based on Tetsuwan Atom, it’s basically unlimited bankrolling. I’m going to watch it just for the spectacle. 

Alice to Zouroku- The character designs remind me of nichijou. Looks cool. The PV really isn’t revealing anything much