For me it’s Vinland Season 2 and Frieren for storytelling. Jujutsu kaisen 2 and The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 for raw fun.

  • CriticalOtaku [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    11 months ago

    GOATED:

    • Gridman Universe

    Good:

    • One Piece Live Action
    • Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
    • Frieren*
    • G-Witch S2 (Ending really docked it some points tho)

    Ok:

    • Apothecary Diaries
    • Pluto
    • JJK S2*
    • Oshi no Ko
    • Spy x Family S2

    Stuff that seems good but I didn’t finish for whatever reason so I don’t have strong opinions on (actually I know the reason):

    • Heavenly Delusion
    • Hell’s Paradise
    • Skip and Loafer

    Stuff I want to see but didn’t have time for because I’m a dumbass who thought that binge watching all of One Piece was a good idea (this is also the reason I didn’t finish those other shows):

    • Zom100

    *Frieren: For a show about neurodivergence, it sure seems a bit fucked up that the bad guys are portrayed as so neurodivergent that the only safe way to interact with them is through violence and death, and any attempts at diplomacy or negotiations is just camouflage for something sinister. They try to take the edge off by making them magical fascists who perpetuate genocide, but really they could have just made them ontologically evil instead (they’re demons after all) and left it at that. My one quibble with the show, thankfully most of it is just comfy vibes

    *JJK S2: Can’t talk about this one without talking about the overworked elephant in the room. It’s all edgy Shonen nonsense, but it’s clear that the artists working on the show are trying their hardest, and in spite of the limitations placed on them (or because of it) the show just somehow manages to channel the apocalyptic vibes of living in late stage capitalism really, really well. (At least when the animators manage to finish the episode.) It’s not trying to do anything with it in the way a story like Chainsaw man is, but as the kids say, the vibes are immaculate.

    • Saeculum [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      11 months ago

      the bad guys are portrayed as so neurodivergent that the only safe way to interact with them is through violence and death, and any attempts at diplomacy or negotiations is just camouflage for something sinister. They try to take the edge off by making them magical fascists who perpetuate genocide, but really they could have just made them ontologically evil instead

      My takeaway was that the show did make them ontologically evil. They’re not fascists with an ideological goal of committing genocide, they are asocial predators whose natural behaviour is to kill people, and they are capable of vocalising in the pursuit of that.

      • CriticalOtaku [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        11 months ago

        they are asocial predators whose natural behaviour is to kill people, and they are capable of vocalising in the pursuit of that.

        Idk man it’s still kinda icky, especially when in the real world racists will use language like that to justify their racism. I think I’d have preferred if they just left out all the EvoPsych stuff altogether and let the bad guys just straight up be evil spirits or something, without explaining anything.

      • Ithorian [comrade/them, null/void]@hexbear.net
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        11 months ago

        It was legit the best live action adaptation of an anime I’ve seen. It managed to translate all the wackiness without making the show overly dumb. And it’s just a fun and hopeful show. The main character is an optimist but not in a naive way, really refreshing.