Welcome to another general discussion thread! Feel free to use this thread to talk about things you have watched recently, questions you have, or recommendations you want to give!
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Since I decided to drop all of the ongoing series that I thought would be better binged, I had some free time last week, and I’ve been exploring donghua lately, and decided to go back and watch the beginning of a series that’s currently on its seventh season - Quanzhi Fashi aka Full-time Magister aka Versatile Mage. And I liked it.
It’s pretty straightforward - magical academy and a student who’s derided as a loser but then reveals himself to actually be far and away the most powerful mage there. It’s sort of what Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei could’ve been if the MC was a genuinely nice guy instead of a tediously arrogant asshole. There weren’t any big surprises, but it was pleasant to watch him grow and improve, and there was enough background context to make it especially enjoyable when he inevitably curbstomped his unjustifiably arrogant rivals.
And there was a bit of a hint at some very dark background that I suspect is going to become much more important as the seasons go on.
Besides continuing to watch each excellent episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Witch Hat Atelier, and others, I also gave a few new things a try this week:
- Nippon Sangoku - I watched the first five episodes of this one. First off, gorgeous art. Very unique style. Looks great both still and in motion. Unfortunately I don’t think the writing works for me. It feels like it’s trying to convince me that certain characters are smart simply by making everyone around them extremely stupid. The show often feels like it’s trying to be serious, but the stupidity is so over-the-top it breaks the mood. Also, it sometimes feels like I’m watching “smart” characters make dumb choices. I’ll probably watch more, but if I was to drop something this season this would probably be it.
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - I love me a dumbass protagonist. Girl gets time travel powers but is to goddamn stupid to use them well. Overall enjoyable watch, but not quite the best movie I saw this week.
- Summer Wars - Same director as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Made in 2009 and boy does it feel like it was! First off, the “main plot” if I can even call it that is some sort of hacking nonsense. The hacking nonsense itself doesn’t feel as compelling as the main plot of Jumping Time Girl did, but moment to moment I actually found this one to be extremely enjoyable. Honestly I think you could argue the real main plot was just Natsuki’s family interacting with each other and the crazy events happening as the movie progresses. As someone who attends more than one family reunion per year on average the portrayal of the chaos and the collection of mismatched weirdos really hit home. Every moment we spend hanging out with Natsuki’s family is a good moment, and that’s most of the movie, so despite not caring for the hacking stuff I think I overall enjoyed this movie more between the two.
Yeah, one thing Japanese SF really seems to like is time travel with protagonists so stupid you can’t believe they survive the whole story. Sometimes it’s endearing, sometimes it’s just draining - like Tokyo Revengers.
Summer Wars
I agree. Not a fan of the cyberspace mumbo jumbo, but I really like the movie for everything else.
Watched All you need is kill last week. It’s great, 'nuff said.
If there’s one thing negative to say about it, it’s that it doesn’t hit as hard as my first watch-through of Edge of Tomorrow - because I got spoilt on the plot in some sense.
Definitely a recommend, especially since it’s rather short in terms of duration.
Ah… I’d been waiting for the All You Need is Kill movie.
I read the manga first, so Edge of Tomorrow, generally entertaining as it was, was a disappointment in the long run.
All I hope really is that this movie has the courage to tell the same story the manga told.
Edit to add, after watching it:
First off, I had forgotten that this was Science SARU, though I was reminded about one second in - there’s no mistaking that art style.
All in all it was… pretty good.
Broadly of course it was the same story, but it differed in a number of details, some of which I think might have even been an improvement over the original. Others were definitely not an improvement though. Overall, I’d rate it at somewhat inferior to the original, but vastly superior to Edge of Tomorrow.
I had no idea that was out; thanks for the reminder!
