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Many years ago when I tried watching DB I did watch from the very beginning but it didn’t catch on for me. Definitely never got to the Z part.

Yea. Often first last episodes are not super representative. So I just jumped in to do a vibe check. I didn’t really judge based on plot. I can’t imagine a plot that would justify whatever the frick happens in Dark Summoner though 😅.

I haven’t been watching new to me anime for a while. However, yesterday I clicked two random currently airing anime latest episodes on the home screen. Just to check the vibes and see what’s going on. Well…

First up was “Dragon Ball Super: Beerus”. First of all I was surprised by how high pitched the saiyan’s voices were. Very different than shounen I remember. They fought and did the “omg I can’t believe he’s so strong” shtick. The cliffhanger was very predictable even though I know nothing about the show 😅. It’s just incredibly boring. I can see why I dropped Dragon Ball when I tried to watch it a long time ago. Sorry Dragon Ball fans.

However, Dragon Ball is nothing compared to what I happened to have picked next. “I’m dating a dark summoner” it is and the thumbnail didn’t look anything special. So dude has a girlfriend and she gets kidnapped by orcs and he imagines them gangbanging her and then he gets a stiffy. Tremendous.

Subsequently, I am no longer interested in “what’s going on”. To cleanse my soul and nurse my heart, I watched episode six of Gochiusa. True and art and culture packaged with the finest moe one can find. The warmth I need in my life. Lord be with those who venture into the abyss that is currently airing anime.

I’m not sure either how much ARIA influences later shows either. Apart from Tamayura which is by the same director. ARIA is definitely my favorite though 🥰. I went with Yokohama because it aired much earlier (1998 vs 2005).

I don’t think Lucky Star and K-ON! are blueprints for CGDCT. They surely influenced the shows coming after them but any popular show in a genre does that. The consensus seems that Azumanga Daioh is the blueprint for CGDCT as before it CGDCT wasn’t a genre and after it CGDCT became a genre. For example, can we say that shows like Gochiusa that came after Lucky Star are based upon it and not on something slightly earlier like Ichigo Mashimaro, and can we say that Lucky Star is truly groundbreaking compared to Ichigo Mashimaro in its content? I would say that shows like Lucky Star and K-ON! are not genre defining but instead popularised the existing genre. If anything, that 2007-2009 era was the golden age of CGDCT, not its inception (2002) or where it finalised its form (maybe around 2005 but harder to say). So my vote is Azumanga Daioh for CGDCT.

Maybe for shows heavily leaning into Iyashikei, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is what really set the tone but I’m not sure. I’m going with “leaning” here because SOL, CGDCT, Yuri and Iyashikei are almost always in there together to some extend but some works lean heavier into some aspects than others.

I don’t know anything about it but it is a Kirara adaptation and those are usually really good!

Indeed, her dealing with her own emotions as well as helping others do it was really what was so good. As you say, the ending wasn’t to my taste either. When she wrote that final letter to Gilbert at the end of the series I was so moved I could barely see the screen through my tears. And it really fit perfectly, she started by writing a letter, she ended by writing a letter and in that letter she really wrestles with everything. The very end kind of cheapens that moment a bit for me. But overall I find it a very good anime and I just kinda disregard the ending personally haha.

Of course it doesn’t need constant action. It doesn’t really need action at all. Image I remember watching Violet Evergarden. The end had some action. Really the weakest part in my opinion. In our daily lives we mostly just yap to each other. And the yapping part is also the best part in anime for me.

I’m not in the loop with manga. Didn’t know Arawi-sensei had new manga.

I also have good experiences with them. Recently I bought the ARIA ost Vinyls that were released but I was a bit late (didn’t pre-order) but they managed to proxy ship them to me from another vendor in Japan. That is more expensive though but sometimes the only way to get something. Keep in mind that anything you ship from Japan can easily go up to 1.5-2.0 times the price of the item with shipping, duties and taxes.

On the other hand, while a lot will go over your head you will also learn a lot. Watching Gintama was what set off my evolution from “boy who watches popular shounen” to “otaku who is in the know”. Well aging past being a teenager helped as well of course.

The last time a show did this was NHK

That’s a bit of strong statement, there is probably a bunch of shows doing it, maybe in smaller quantities. I haven’t seen this cat show but often when I see a clip (like this one) it reminds me of Gintama. Gintama kinda does the same thing you are describing. Also Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei comes to mind, but there they also just straight up say things out loud. There is probably a bunch of shows that we both don’t know. Of course Japan being a country with an indirect culture, it has its own way of critiquing things.

It’s no secret that Japanese society isn’t perfect, but like India, people that call it out are looked down upon.

Certainly in some countries this is more of thing like you say, but I think this is still kind of a thing in western countries with a culture of more direct critique. For example: I’m not an American but I have definitely seen the American right accuse the American left of hating America when they critique America.

But yea maybe I’ll give Yani Neko a try sometime.

Given that I just let a shipping company extort me just so that I could have the complete ARIA vinyl collection I’m gonna have to say ARIA for me 😅.

Gintama is also a great choice! It such a diverse anime and the OST reflects that. I love listening to it as well! Picking a favorite is hard but I think it is 昔の友人が変わらずにいるというのも悪くないものだな… It’s very OG and has such an wholesome bittersweet sensation to it. Gintama has a lot of bittersweet and I love that. Life is bittersweet after all. My favorite character theme is probably Madao’s theme.

I’ve been meaning to read more but it’s been a little hard. Maybe I’ll take your recommendation and read The Old Capital. In English, I’m afraid. My Japanese is way not good enough to get into literature unfortunately.

This is what makes Japanese literature so meditative and beautiful.

It does seem Japanese media does have more of this as well. I don’t know of any western media that is similar to Iyashikei anime. It could very well exist though, I just haven’t come across it.

I wouldn’t say absolutely zero drama: in ep 2 Aika and Akira have a pretty ugly fight for example. But ARIA really knows how to resolve things in that soft and gentle way. Suteki!

little iron bell chimes

Like in ARIA?

• slow pace
• cute girls
• chibi art style
• aesthetic environments
• very little action
• very few serious stakes
• thin or nonexistent plot
• every episode ends on a good note
• no cliffhangers
• soothing music
• cute voices
• characters with a soft voice
• random shots of environments and objects in between
• shots where almost nothing moves or happens (think non non biyori veranda scene)
• singing and music by characters
• tradition
• interconnected social structure
• lots of hugs and snuggles and head pats etc
• tangible love between characters (of any kind)
• lots of conversation
• daily life / relatable activities
• down to earth (not too unrealistic) but with a slight element of mysticism / unexplained magic (think gochiusa’s tippy)
• cute clothes that are plausible as everyday wear
• environmental sounds
• day nights cycle / passing of the day / daily routine
• lots of golden hour
• lots of moe

Singed, your local SOL/CGDCT/Iyashikei weirdo.

K-ON is certainly made for men but notably it is very popular among women. This is kinda rare for CGDCT. Maybe it has to do with the female director giving it a certain touch that resonates with women.

The appeal of CGDCT is not singular. Innocence is certainly a part of why girls are chosen. But also, it needs to be cute and to most only girls are cute. Neither is the innocence universally applied and there are often not so innocent girls included in the cast. For example Konata in Lucky Star says some really not innocent things yet she is a popular moe character.

In the end, dudes rather looking at girls than at guys is still an important factor I think. Somehow being straight makes you like girls more even if you are not romantically or sexually attracted to those girls.

Aaah Asobi Asobase. My favorite moment is Fujiwara speaking broken Japanese and then awakening her kobun. And quite an interesting colour palette the show has.

Because cars are quite complex and they move around they are time consuming and expensive to animate. Especially if a car turns and rotates relative to the camera, that is quite the job. They also are an object with familiar geometry so it needs to look correct and consistent, unlike character heads and faces for which we accept a lot of artistic liberty to be taken.

It comes down to some options:

• draw it well (takes a lot of resources)
• CGI but integrated very well by tracing over it by hand (also expensive)
• draw it using reasonable resources (probably won’t turn out very well)
• CGI but don’t redraw each frame (CGI will jump out as being CGI)

I remember the first episode of Non Non Biyori. Beautiful intro, one of my favorite introduction moments. The only thing that takes me out of it a bit are those ugly ass CGI cars lol. They really stand out!

For an example of good car animation? I don’t watch much things with cars in it but in Lucky Star episode 6 it starts off well. They are either drawn or CGI that is traced over. When the initial D parody starts, the outside of it is clearly CGI, but the inside is drawn/traced. When you see the camera panning around the car, you can see that it would take a lot of time to trace each frame to make it blend into the art style and background. Maybe the CGI look has to do with the anime they are referencing, I didn’t watch it.

Omg they’re even bigger than the Haruhi plushies from last month. And that girl gets to pose with all of them. I think they have outgrown her lol.

Ah yea, I do like michishirube!

I don’t remember what happened exactly anymore when they weave in the main story but I remember it being quite touching. I also love the ending theme and its music video on YT. It definitely reveals things not revealed in the main series so definitely a must watch for fans indeed.

I almost only watch comfort anime… So all my favorite CGDCT and Iyashikei anime.

Kogepan. From 2001, ten very short episodes of about 3 minutes, 4 if you include the OP and ED. About a bread that is baked too long and is burned. Most other breads are pristine. A story about silly anthropomorphised breads but it’s quite human. It is surprisingly touching, especially the last episode. Some say it is an allegory for being old in society, the burned breads being old and the nice breads being young. Personally I think it can be interpreted in many ways, and you can easily swap being old for your own way in which you are burned. I’d classify it as an SOL/Iyashikei anime. I like how the quotes roll in with the writing behind them. You can watch it on youtube.

Me watching Gochiusa:

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Apart from anime with traditionally sad scenes like Violet Evergarden or Gintama, I have the strange ability to cry about cute girls doing cute things slice of life anime 😅. Like Non Non Biyori, K-ON, Gochiusa. I really like the tender and soft moments. For example that scene where Chino-chan decides to lean against Cocoa-chan and Mocha-chan. It’s a bit sad, but mostly it is just so sweet and pure and tender.

To me one of the most precious effects an anime can have is when it makes me cry without the scene being sad. The queen of this has to be ARIA. Of course that one scene with Alice. But also just Alicia explaining why she doesn’t get angry to Alice. The iyashikei just hits so hard I start feeling that being alive is wonderful. Those are my favorite tears!

Ann 😭😭😭. Definitely my favorite episode. The letter to Gilbert did me in as well. When she looks at the camera I’m so done for…

Technically everything can be a slice of life. But preferably it is used for stuff that focuses on daily life. Is frieren actually a slice of life or is this a case of shounen fans calling everything with less than 50% action a SOL? I also heard frieren is a slow show. Is it actually slow or just by shounen standards?