I finished Gate last night. I rather enjoyed it. Some specific things I liked or found interesting about it: I like that the main character, Itami, both subverts the typical trope for this kind of story's protagonist by being a lieutenant and team captain in his thirties and plays it straight by being a "loser" otaku and a pro slacker. It makes his character and his arc more interesting, and allows for some unique scenarios, like when the group finds out he has an ex-wife. I find it interesting that the series shows probably very accurately, if not realistically, how one-sided a battle between modern weaponry and medieval fantasy weaponry would be. Every time the JSDF gets involved in combat, the aggressor is decimated, without question. This forces the series to let the war take a backseat to actual attempts at diplomacy and more smaller stakes combat scenarios. "Like" is the wrong word here, but I appreciate the way they handled the storyline of Tuca's grief over her father's death. Her father was killed by a dragon, and after Itami and co. saved her, she refused to accept that her father was dead, getting food and supplies for someone who wasn't there. This goes on for the first half of the series, until about three or four episodes into the second half, someone makes her confront the truth, which causes her to hallucinate that Itami is her father. Finally, Itami and co. are convinced to take Tuca to fight the fire dragon. Facing her father's killer and helping to destroy it helps Tuca to both confront reality and get badly needed closure. I don't know how accurate it is to people actually processing grief, but I liked the way it was done anyway. I also find really amusing how in the last episode, clearly taking into consideration that there won't be a second season, the writers decide to hook up multiple sets of supporting characters all in one scene. I don't know if that happens the same way in the source material, but it's hilarious, even if it doesn't give the pairings the care they deserve. Anyway, I enjoyed Gate, and now it's time to move on to something else. Next on my list: Jujutsu Kaisen.
Honestly I'd rather them spend as much time on it as they need to, even if that would mean pushing back to 2024 as a result. The next season and the material it will contain from the manga is gonna send people into a frenzy when they see it - I'd rather them spend time getting it right than getting it out as soon as possible. We'll have Chainsaw Man in October to tide us over till then!
Is this Netflix's fault, I wonder? I dunno how anime cours typically work, but I have noticed gaps of time between them isn't an uncommon thing. For example, I read the Gate anime I watched recently had a gap of four months between Part 1 and Part 2 when it came out. Not as long of a time gap, but I just did a look on Anime News Network and the people on the forum there are saying the company that makes this has other projects they're doing too that might account for the longer gap?
It’s just the fact it’s going to take maybe a year and a half plus to get like what 3 cours sucks and that’s if they still follow this timeline
I’ve been meaning to watch Perfect Blue and Paprika https://watch.eventive.org/satoshikon?fbclid=IwAR35lazsxdjcHs1zxn1rqFkMnxm8BpZAF6hDFijje5XCphZEfE6EXp6jBqM
The trailer for perfect blue was on like every anime VHS I bought as a kid, seemed creepy. Still haven’t seen it.
A new key visual and trailer for Vampire in the Garden, by Studio WIT. After Ranking of Kings, I’ll watch anything they make.
Finished Jujutsu Kaisen. Really enjoyed it. Turns out all the clips from it I'd seen on Youtube were from the Juju Stroll segments, so I didn't realize how dark the actual show gets. Also finding interesting the relationship between Yuji and Sukuna. In other media I've seen, usually when the hero has an evil presence inside of him, the evil presence eventually does a heel-face turn of some kind as they bond with their vessel, so it was a little refreshing to see a scenario where the presence is not only remaining clearly evil, but more evil than anything else on the show. That scene where Junpei is dying and Yuji asks Sukuna to save him, and Sukuna just directly says "No", even though he absolutely could... and then both Sukuna and Mahito start laughing at Junpei's death? Chilling. Anyway, this leaves Nichijou as the only remaining anime on my slate right now, so I figure it's time to spin the wheel again and add some more! (spins wheel) And the winners are: I'm Standing On A Million Lives, A Lull In The Sea, Summer Wars, and Mob Psycho 100. Let's go!
A Lull In The Sea is one of my favorites, but it starts slow and the main character is insufferable for the first few episodes. Definitely stick with it, it gets really fucking good
Addendum: Realized Summer Wars is a movie, originally confused it with Waiting In The Summer, which is also on my list. This changes nothing, I do have movies on my to-do list too.