Rottcodd
@Rottcodd@ani.social
- Comment on [Episode] "Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na" to Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai - Episode 12 discussion 1 week ago:
Wow… that was really, really awful.
So basically what they did was skip over at least a half dozen or so episodes worth of exposition to get to the point at which Flum kicks that awful woman’s ass (which admittedly was still satisfying to see, though I’m sure nowhere near as satisfying as it would’ve been if we’d gotten the full context first), and then sat her in a room with some other characters and narrated a condensed version of another twenty or thirty or forty episodes worth of story, the end.
I don’t know exactly how it ended because I stopped watching, since I liked the story, so I’m going to read the LNs, and I didn’t want to spoil the ending. Which is another sense in which this was a really, really awful episode.
There are a number of different ways to deal with the fact that you’re adapting a story that’s too long and detailed to fit into a single season of an anime. After seeing this, I would pretty confidently say that telling a fully detailed partial story, then awkwardly narrating a condensed, handwaved version of the rest of it, is far and away the worst of them.
It deserved better.
- Comment on [Episode] MF GHOST Season 3 • MF Ghost 3rd Season - Episode 13 discussion 1 week ago:
Last episode of the season, and they’re just over halfway through the race. And to rub it in they ended with the announcer summing up that there’s no way to know who’s going to win the race, and “I wouldn’t risk missing this climax.”
Right. So be sure to tune in… in about two years.
- Submitted 1 week ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Submitted 1 week ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- [Chapter] Fujii on the Roadside / Robou no Fujii - Vol. 3 Ch. 18 - Tanaka's Day Off - MangaDexmangadex.org ↗Submitted 1 week ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Comment on [Episode] Release that Witch • Fangkai Nage Nüwu - Episode 4 discussion 1 week ago:
Another solid episode. No really significant surprises or anything, but it’s unfolding well and with no notable gaps or plot contrivances (other than, you know, the whole isekai’d into a world with witches bit). Looking forward to the next episode.
- Comment on Summer Anime Season Wrap-up and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 13] 1 week ago:
This seems to be a sort of consensus already on this thread - I’m following more anime this season than I think I ever have before.
For me, the best of the season has been Journal With Witch, no contest. That’s not so much a reflection of the competition though as it is just that it’s that good. I was also very impressed by You and I Are Polar Opposites. I didn’t expect a whole lot from it since I’d already read (and loved) the manga and figured it would pale in comparison, as so many adaptations do. But it not only managed to keep everything good about the manga - it added notably good animation, music and voice acting. That’s the way it should be, but cynically not what I expect.
Most of the rest of the series that I’ve followed have been good enough that I’ve continued to follow them, but not really outstanding, and unfortunately that’s included Frieren, which is still good, but nothing close to as good as the first season was. But that’s also included some series for which good enough to follow is an accomplishment in and of itself - things like Scum of the Brave, Roll Over and Die and Shiboyugi, all of which have been, if not masterful, at least better than I would’ve expected.
All in all, it’s been a solid season. The only things I dropped were Trigun Stargaze and Gnosia (and in hindsight, I could’ve dropped Champignon Witch without missing out on anything) - everything else has at least been worth watching. Mostly though, this will go down in my personal history as the season of Asa and Makio and Journal With Witch - quite possibly my new all-time favorite series.
And my watch record for last week, spoilered for space:
Started the week off quickly and impressively. On last week’s thread, Crank mentioned Kensuke Ushio, and since I don’t pay very close attention to soundtracks (other than noticing when they’re especially good), I didn’t recognize the name. But after googling, I found that he had done a surprising number of soundtracks that I remembered being impressed by. And there were of course also things I hadn’t seen and things I hadn’t even heard of, so I checked out some of those, and especially the ones I hadn’t heard of, just because I love discovering hidden gems. And among the things I found that looked at least promising was a movie - Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (Cider no You ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru). So I tracked it down and watched it that evening, and it was wonderful. The characters are charming, the story is sweet and very satisfying, the soundtrack is terrific and the artstyle is amazing. I just loved everything about it (and especially the artstyle). So then I watched it again. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, I followed a recommendation from that to Josee to Tora to Sakana tachi (Josee, the Tiger and the Fish), which was probably even better all in all, though somewhat differently. The artstyle and soundtrack were both straightforward and unexceptional, but the story was very, very good. Instead of just falling into a love relationship that could be summed up in a montage, as was the case with Words Bubble Up, the protagonists in this one - Tsuneo and Josee - had to work at it and overcome a lot of difficulties. But that just made it all the more rewarding (even if the climactic moment was a bit ridiculously contrived). Next up I rewatched the current three episodes of Release That Witch, just because it’s caught me off guard by seeming better than I expected, and I always see better the second time through. And my opinion stands - it’s really quite good and it’s only barely scratched the surface so far. If it lives up to the world it’s in the process of building (and I see no reason why it wouldn’t), it should be well worth watching. Then for whatever reason (I suspect just as a notably broad and extreme change of pace), I decided to indulge in some trash, and after poking around a bit, ended up with World’s End Harem, which was awful, and not in a good way. The characters were awful (and especially Reito, who’s quite possibly the single worst anime protagonist I’ve ever seen), the story was awful, the music was awful - even the ecchi was awful. It didn’t even manage to be decent trash. So then, still in the mood for trash but unwilling to gamble again, I switched to one that I watched the first season of a year or two ago and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that underneath the trash was a surprisingly good battle royale - Queen’s Blade. And the second season was much like the first - sultry girls in bikini armor (or less) and a pretty much permanent male gaze camera angle, and behind that a solid and engaging battle royale plot fleshed out with loads of political intrigue, bitter rivalry, raw emotion, ambition, redemption, hope, tragedy, grief, well-staged fights, and even some decent comic relief. That’s the way trash should be. Current: Release That Witch - as already noted, it was surprisingly good, which inspired a rewatch of the three episodes up to now, which remained surprisingly good. Shiboyugi - the final episode, and it was… okay. It left a lot of unanswered questions (including some that I thought would obviously be answered in this episode) and even introduced some new questions. But I still enjoyed both this episode and the series all in all (enough that I’m currently reading the LNs). MF Ghost - At least they’re finally back in the cars again. And so far there’s been no confirmation that this is the last episode of the season, so maybe we’ll even get to see the end of this race without having to wait until 2028. Roll Over and Die - just as I expected, the sort of weak and stupid Flum from last episode was a plot device to put her friends in danger so that she then would be spurred to go do some righteous asskicking to rescue them. And some righteous asskicking she did. And there’s more to come, and I’m so there for it. Champignon Witch - Shame about this series. It started out promising - Luna was an interesting character and her situation was intriguing, but as soon as Lize was introduced, it went sharply downhill and never recovered. His story is vague and uninteresting and as a character he’s mostly just tedious. Granted that that’s not just a poor characterization - he’s tedious in-universe (and in fact, Gustave commented on exactly that in this episode). But that doesn’t make it any more interesing, or even tolerable. And after spending the latter 2/3 of the series just endlessly repeating the same tedious loops with Lize, the series ended on… repeating the same tedious loop yet again. All in all, it was just disappointingly mediocre. Frieren - Finally, an episode that actually felt like one of the earlier Frieren episodes - the ones that made me fall in love with the series in the first place. Comfort food for the soul. Scum of the Brave - this was just a genuinely good episode, all the way through. And even better yet, it wasn’t just good in and of itself, but as a part of the broader story. I fell into this series in the first place not so much because of what it was as because of what it seemed it could work out to be - it just seemed to have a lot of potential. But then it stubbornly failed to live up to that potential. Until now. It finally feels now like it’s coming together and becoming what it seemed it could be, and just in time for the second cour of the season. You and I Are Polar Opposites - at this point, it’s pretty much just a given that each episode is going to be terrific, and this one was no exception. I especially enjoyed Nisshi and Yamada, but all three couples had their moments. Journal With Witch - this was such a gratifying episode. It still had those terrific bits of brilliant insight, but the context was different, since the characters have grown so much over the past year. And notably characters plural. Not only has Asa changed, but so has Makio (and there was a great moment when you could see Makio suddenly realizing, and being pleased by, how much she’s changed). I’m just so happy for them all.
- Comment on [Episode] Journal with Witch • Ikoku Nikki - Episode 12 discussion 1 week ago:
I’ve run out of superlatives to describe this series.
One of the things that really stood out to me from this episode is how much Makio and Asa have changed in appearance over the course of the series. Makio’s has been a bit more obvious because she’s grown her hair out, but her expressions have changed too - they’ve gotten softer and more open. Asa’s a bit more subtle since she hasn’t changed really notably physically, but particularly in her eyes you can see a sort of clarity that wasn’t there before. Early on, she tended to look vague and distant and sort of blank, and she doesn’t any more.
I love hearing her sing her song. I wish we could’ve seen the audition, but I’m not that surprised that we didn’t. Broadly, one could say that the series is less focused on what happens and more focused on what the characters think and feel about what happens.
The evolution of her personal desert has been intriguing. Early on, I would’ve expected that she would eventually escape from it, but apparently rather than escaping, she’s settled in and is in the process of making it a comfortable home.
And so on - as usual, there were so many fascinating, insightful, compelling little tidbits scattered through this episode that I could be here the rest of the day pointing them out.
- Comment on [Episode] You and I Are Polar Opposites • Seihantai na Kimi to Boku - Episode 11 discussion 1 week ago:
Hon-chan literally throwing Nisshi out of the room to go meet Yamada. 🤣
- Comment on [Episode] In the Clear Moonlit Dusk • Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki - Episode 11 discussion 1 week ago:
I’m not sure in what fantasy universe the best response to having an obviously nervous girl in your room say that her heart already feels like it’s going to explode is to push her down on her back and climb on top of her, but other than that, this was a pretty good episode.
I really didn’t expect Yoi to shut Ojii down so completely.
And I did expect (as I’m sure we were meant to) that when Yoshiko said there was a guy she was interested in meeting, then led Kohaku to the curry restaurant, that guy was going to be Ojii. The reality was actually pretty amusing.
I don’t see any way they can decisively wrap much of anything up in just one more episode, so it’ll be interesting to see how this ends.
- Comment on [Episode] Scum of the Brave • Yuusha no Kuzu - Episode 11 discussion 1 week ago:
This was a good episode, and bodes well for the second cour of the season.
Yashiro finally pulled himself out of that self-defeating circle of refusing to take the girls seriously, refusing to give them any guidance, then treating it as their fault when they couldn’t fight well. Instead, he gave them a sound strategy to follow, then got out of the way and let them follow it, and they did great. And he even acknowledged her value when Jogamine came to his aid. Which also allowed for some of the charming chemistry between them that’s been sort of hovering around the edges, unfulfilled, since the beginning.
And if that wasn’t enough, he faced up to the fact that he constantly belittles the idea of a Brave being genuinely honorable and decent because that used to be his own ideal, but then he wasn’t strong enough to live up to it.
So to all appearances, we’re actually set up for a deeper plot and actual character growth and genuine affection between the characters and satisfyingly cooperative fights. And with 13 more episodes to come.
- Comment on [Chapter] Akebi-chan no Sailor Fuku - Ch. 88 - Promise - MangaDex 1 week ago:
Nobody compares to Hiro.
- Submitted 1 week ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on [Episode] "Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na" to Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai - Episode 11 discussion 1 week ago:
Ahhh… that was so gratifying.
And next up we get to see Flum (and likely all of the rest of the cast, notably including Ink) do the same to Milkit’s former master
- Comment on [Episode] Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2 • Sousou no Frieren 2nd Season - Episode 9 discussion 1 week ago:
This is what I’ve been missing this season. Finally, this felt like a Frieren episode.
- Comment on [Episode] MF GHOST Season 3 • MF Ghost 3rd Season - Episode 12 discussion 1 week ago:
It suddenly made me laugh out loud when I put together that it was Sudo, of all people, who noted that Kanata likely considers it a point of pride to not swap paint, and that he likely learned that from his mentor Takumi.
He knows all too well that Takumi not only wouldn’t do it, but could and would make you regret trying.
And broadly, this series is much better when they’re in the cars. It still drags on too long, and it gets tedious watching the same cliched actions and hearing the same cliched thoughts. (Seriously - how many times is somebody going to register shocked surprise when they get passed by Kanata going what seems to be too fast on the outside, then turning it into a drift? And when are they finally going to stop saying, “Well I have [some enormous amount of] horsepower, so he can’t beat me!”?) But still, it’s better than when they’re out of the cars.
And I have to note too - though fat shaming isn’t generally on my radar (not that I approve or anything - it’s just never been a part of my life either direction), the way this series is using Marie as pathetic comedy relief is starting to piss me off.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- [Chapter] Starting Today We're Childhood Friends - Ch. 164 - Childhood Friend and Name - MangaDexmangadex.org ↗Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Comment on Crunchyroll Users Report Use of Controversial 'Hard Subs' on Platform + New Video Player 2 weeks ago:
Yeah - I’d have to say that I’m being too cynical, since I didn’t see anything there I’d disagree with.
And I hadn’t considered the scale of CR’s competition - that’s a good point.
But then we’re back to it not making sense…
- Comment on [Episode] SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table • Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu. - Episode 11 discussion 2 weeks ago:
I agree.
I suspect there’s a fair amount of fault to find with this (I haven’t entirely digested it yet, so I’m unsure how much of the apparent missing context is genuinely missing or just things I didn’t pick up on), but I suspect that most of it can be traced back to the screenplay. The direction was impressive, and I too would like to see what he can do with a different project.
- Comment on [Episode] SHIBOYUGI: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table • Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu. - Episode 11 discussion 2 weeks ago:
Hm.
Lots and lots of symbolism, even by this series’ standards.
The latter part was presented as if Yuki was flashing back to her experiences in the games, preparatory to the final showdown with Kyara, but an awful lot of that was from later games - we saw them earlier, but that’s only because the timeline of the series wasn’t linear.
And on that note, I actually planned to read the LNs starting a few weeks ago, but then discovered that Candle Woods is the latter half of the first volume. I suspect that the producers wanted to end this adaptation with the end of Candle Woods, probably much like the presumed ending of the first volume of the LN, but that didn’t provide enough material, so they padded it out with games that actually appear in later volumes of the LN series and rearranged the timeline to accommodate it. And presumably just hoped that people wouldn’t notice that Yuki seemed to be flashing back to things that technically hadn’t happened yet.
The last scene was certainly a surprise, and I would assume that was straight out of the LN, and is addressed in later volumes.
In any event, now I’m going to read the LNs and hopefully learn some more. It’s likely that a lot of what was just symbolism in the adaptation is actually just background to Yuki’s thoughts in the LNs, and her thoughts provide the context that seemed to be too often missing in the adaptation.
Then when I catch up with the LNs, I’ll undoubtedly watch the series again. It was certainly different and intriguing, but I’m not sure how well it actually worked.
- Comment on Crunchyroll Users Report Use of Controversial 'Hard Subs' on Platform + New Video Player 2 weeks ago:
I dunno… granted that I’m extremely cynical, that just doesn’t sound like corporate behavior. I would more expect CR to just count on exclusive licensing and the convenience of siccing governments on pirates to protect their market share from any possible ill effects of downgrading their player.
I mean - Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to specifically describe a process involving online platforms and a combination of private users and business customers, but really the broad process is common to pretty much every corporate product/service in existence, and undeniably including streaming services.
Again though, I’m extremely cynical…
- Comment on Crunchyroll Users Report Use of Controversial 'Hard Subs' on Platform + New Video Player 2 weeks ago:
That was my first thought, but it doesn’t seem to hold up. The only pirates I would think would be significantly inconvenienced are ones that are doing fansubs of languages CR doesn’t support. If it’s a language CR supports, then the only difference is that the pirates would offer hard subs instead of soft, and while yes, that does mean having to host multiple copies of the same video, each with their own hard subs, that seems more the sort of thing that CR wouldn’t do, since corporations will institute policies solely to save fractions of cents. Pirates, ironically enough, generally aren’t that greedy, so it seems they’d be more likely to just go ahead and host multiple copies of hard subbed videos if that’s what it takes, and that’s the way it goes.
Now that said, I had noticed over recent years that hard subs are increasingly rare and most sites only offer soft subs, but I just assumed that was because they were ripping them straight from the originals, while hard subs are still done the old fashioned way, by fansubbing groups. But I guess it’s possible that the fact that most of the pirates have gone to soft subs exclusively means it would be more of a hassle for them to handle hardsubs than I’m thinking it would be.
I dunno - it just seems odd, still.
- Comment on Crunchyroll Users Report Use of Controversial 'Hard Subs' on Platform + New Video Player 2 weeks ago:
What am I missing?
It would seem to me that Crunchyroll should prefer soft subs, since they require much less work and can be edited/updated/changed at any time. And it’s much easier and less costly to offer multiple languages, since they can just provide one video file and multiple sub files, rather than having to provide multiple videos.
And personally, I prefer hard subs - they’re no fuss, generally more dependably accurate (and accurately timed) and allow for more creativity, like strategic placement, multiple colors or fonts, deliberate variation in font size/kerning etc…
- Comment on [Episode] MF GHOST Season 3 • MF Ghost 3rd Season - Episode 11 discussion 2 weeks ago:
It looks that way.
If the season runs 12 episodes, as the other two did and I presumed it would, then yeah - there’s zero chance they’ll finish until next season.
But I just now went poking around to try to find out how many episodes it’s scheduled for, and every database site lists it as “unknown,” so apparently the producers haven’t announced a specific number and are at least leaving the option open to continue beyond 12. So I guess there’s a chance they might actually finish it…
- Comment on [Chapter] Houkago Kitaku Biyori - Ch. 53 - Let's Sprint Through It - MangaDex 2 weeks ago:
I love the way he just sort of shows up and bulls his way into the middle of things.
You can be sure that at the least he thinks they’re kind of stupid and pitiable, which is a good part of why he takes it upon himself to bless them with his presence.
That and he gets scritches.
- Comment on [Chapter] Houkago Kitaku Biyori - Ch. 53 - Let's Sprint Through It - MangaDex 2 weeks ago:
Boss!
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 3 comments