#spring training 2024

[juergenklopp]

NBCSPhilly Sounds like Bryson Stott has been in Trea Turner's ear about who stole more bases in 2023

— for @mattstrahm

[chicagocubsreactions]

[x]

[conniesblueboys]

❤️💙

[blue-da-ba-dee]

Oh we are SO back💙

[conniesmlb]

[ochiody]

@serennedyweek day 2: western

[risingshards]

"Oh man this season is AMAZING so far." —me, who grades anime seasons by how much yuri is in them

[animangapolls]

*For the most anticipated continuing series vote here. **Some titles are missing because there are only 12 available options per poll.

[aldrozu]

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2024 Anime Overview: Train to the End of the World and Tonari no Yokai-san

Who knows if poor Whisper Me a Love Song (a cute yuri anime about a girl band... with dire animation conditions so it's currently stuck on episode 10 with the last two episodes delayed indefinitely) is ever going to finish, but here’s some my first post reviewing the rest of what I watched.

Delicious in Dungeon continued to kill it with the second half of the season, kicking into high gear and introducing cranky catgirls, but you can see my general thoughts on the show here.

Train to the End of the World

I love bizarre anime, especially bizarre anime starring loveable weird girls, and Train absolutely delivers.

 A teenage girl named Yoka is bullied by a slimy businessman into pushing a button that activates the 7G cellular network across Japan, but said network warps and changes Japan completely, having bizarre effects on the citizens. For example, all the adults in Yoka's hometown have been transformed into animals and are starting to act like animals.

Shizuru is Yoka's best friend, and she said some seriously nasty things to Yoka before her friend left town. Yoka's been missing ever since the 7G incident and Shizuru is desperate to find her and apologize. So when she sees a picture showing Yoka in Ikebukuro, she decides to drive a train to find her, and her friends Reimi, Akira, Nadeshiko, and also her dog come along. As they travel across the warped Japan, they face many weird encounters and obstacles.

Train to the End of the World is greatly entertaining, as we see the girls encounter nihiists with mushrooms growing out of their heads, screaming goatmen that ram into the train and even zombies on their journey. The dialogue is snappy, and the girls all have a fun personalities. As a lover of girls doing silly violence, I also adored how everyone besides Akira (who is the smart one) has ridiculous combat skills, with Shizuru having her own form of martial art, Reimi being physically unstoppable when she's mad, and Nadeshiko might come off as the ladylike bow and error wielder...but actually she also can beat the shit out of people with said bow as a blunt object. It's fun to watch them go wild.

An example of how ridiculous the show can get is the encounter with the zombies--the absolutely bizarre logic is that since zombies are supposed to be dead to all sensation, arousal will make them blow up. Instead of the girls acting sexy to arouse them like most anime would do, they just say dirty words, and Akira recites a whole paragraph from Lady Chatterley's Lover that she apparently memorized, and they sing a hilariously bawdy folk song. This episode DOES contain the show's biggest moment of sexualizing the teenage girls though- a hyper detailed panty shot that was super jarring considering the show avoided fanservice before then.

And the next episode had Nadeshiko forced to don a somewhat skimpy outfit. Those are the only two instances of fanservice, but that episode also had a joke where this character in this children's cartoon come to life's entire gimmick was that she was suicidal. It was probably meant to be "lol look how inappropriate this would be for children" but it still felt fairly mean spirited at times.

Despite those hiccups to watch out for, the anime works because it never forgets it's core theme or friendship--the relationships between the girls are developed at a good pace, and Shizuru's guilt over what she did to Yoka is explored well too. It's not just a ridiculous anime, it has a heart too. So if an anime where a girl punches a bear in the face and arms herself with vegetables appeals to you…check it out!

Tonari No Yokai-san

Tonari no Yokai-san takes place in a world where yokai have integrated into human society. The central characters are Buchio, a cat who became a nekomata after living to twenty, and Jiro, a crow tengu who is close friends with a little girl he calls Mu-chan.

This is a very sweet, gentle series that has some heartwrenching and dark undertones occasionally.  Mu’s father has been lost to an eerie void, and a lot of the stories focus on grief. The immediate comparison tone and content-wise is Natsume’s Book of Friends, but it distinguishes itself by presenting a world where yokai are very much part of society, to the point where they have to do paperwork  and pay taxes. (There was also a confirmation that one character is bisexual when his backstory involves dating a guy yokai, so that was nice, especially since he's currently in a relationship with a car yokai that's probably meant to be romantic? Yes I said car yokai it is his car.)

There’s also some sci-fi elements mixed in with alternate timelines and what not. I think these elements could be integrated more smoothly, but they are pretty novel. It’s a really solid series.

I do love stories about yokai and I thought it was enjoyable and touching, but it didn’t rock my world the way I wanted it to…it might be that it followed too many characters at once so I couldn’t dig into any of them the way I really wanted to. Still, it’s a sweet, tender and pleasant watch, I definitely rec it.

[sammythesheltie]

Lucs and Sammys second class 3 parcour in RallyO (highest class in germany).

They did SO WELL.

Even it rained and I walked near them Sammy focused well on Luc - they worked so amazing together.

It was Lucs second class 3 parcour and he did so good with the signs.

We corrected a couple of mistakes at the end but just: wow.

I am so proud of them ❤️.

[juergenklopp]

YU DARVISH warming up ahead of the 2024 Spring Training Cactus League game vs the San Francisco Giants (March 8, 2024) | 📷: Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres

[chicagocubsreactions]

The Professor in spring.

[conniesblueboys]

Andy Pages' two-run home run! ⚾

[blue-da-ba-dee]

100% here for this duo!!

[ace-reviews]

SPRING 2024 ANIME RECOMMENDATIONS

The anime industry needs to chill the fuck out. Literally stop. This isn't your heart.

If you somehow have time left over after the 86,000 returning series this season, watch these new cartoons also.

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ZACK’S RECOMMENDATION #1: Kaiju No. 8

For the sake of full disclosure, I ended up dropping this manga after about a year when due to a number of reasons I had to play catch-up on a bunch of Jump and Jump+ titles. I ultimately decided cuts needed to be made and this was one of them, but I made that cut with the full knowledge that it would eventually get a kick-ass anime and I was right because I’m always right.

The anime looks better than I’d hoped and sounds better than I imagined. The background music sounds like something from a blockbuster movie, and I mean that as a compliment, considering that's basically what it is. Even if you’re not really into kaiju, this is still worth checking out. Unless you’re allergic to beautiful animation and/or poop jokes.

ZACK’S RECOMMENDATION #2: A SALAD BOWL FULL OF ECCENTRICS

This series became a lock for my recommendation this season (even over the train anime, which is very good and you should also watch) the moment I discovered it’s based on a light novel by the same guy who wrote Haganai and A Sister’s All You Need. I’ve never read any of the novels in question because I’m illiterate but I enjoy both of those anime very much (though I will admit that the latter is not for everyone). Haganai transed my gender and for that reason alone I will support Yomi Hirasaka (by watching and recommending anime adaptations of his books. Alas! if I could only read) ‘til my dying day.

This was a solid premier on its own merits, as well. The characters are fun and likeable, the jokes land pretty much every time (at the very least, I can’t immediately think of any that didn’t), and reverse isekai stories are still uncommon enough to be fun. There is the unfortunately ever-present concern that Our Hero will turn out to be a sex pest, but based on Hirasaka’s track record I’m not too worried about that. Really, more than Haganai or A Sister’s All You Need, the anime this premier kept making me think of the most was Hanamatsuri (side note: you should watch Hanamatsuri.)

Also, look at her. She’s reading Detective Conan. I’m reading Detective Conan. That’s so cool of both of us.

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CHARLIE’S RECOMMENDATION #1: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Cheat Powers

Fairly standard fare for the cozy isekai sub-genre, but it’s a decent way to spend half an hour, if you don’t mind the harem aspects.

CHARLIE’S RECOMMENDATION #2: Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again

It was fine, I guess. Watched it because the premise seemed cute, and I wasn’t wrong. Felt like a short comic but animated, and the art was good. Really wish they didn’t have family members lusting after the grandparents, though.

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FEN’S RECOMMENDATION #1: Route of Odd Taxi

FEN’S RECOMMENDATIONS #2: Train to the End of the World & The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio