wjs018

wjs018, 21 days ago

I hope we get more of the maids in the future. They seem delightfully weird.

wjs018, 21 days ago

I really liked this chapter, so many good gags. I laughed so much at Karla making the slap noise as well as Charlotte creating her own echo effects. Reskin this chapter and I could totally see this being a Konosuba episode.

wjs018, 21 days ago

There are two series that I wanted to talk about this week. I discovered both of them from others in this community, and this past week have spent time digging through the backlog of both of them.

• Koudo ni Hattatsu Shita Igaku wa Mahou to Kubetsu ga Tsukanai - Any Highly Advanced Medicine Is Indistinguishable From Magic

Basic premise of this series is that a modern doctor/surgeon from Japan is isekai’ed into a fantasy world with his medical supplies (his bag has a lot of stuff in it apparently). In the fantasy setting, only humans are able to use healing magic, and they exploit this to exert control over the other races. Our isekai’ed MC ends up teaching modern medical techniques to the non-human races, upsetting the world’s balance of power.

I have liked parts of this series a lot. Basically any part of the story that focuses on the main character that was transported from Japan has been great. I think the medical issues he is presented with and the diagnosis/treatment process are really well done. Perhaps even too well done…having watched surgical recordings as part of my professional life, they are never as nice and neat as they are drawn in these chapters. This part of the story has been fantastic.

However, as the series has gone on, it has started featuring an alternate storyline focusing on the healing mages that exist in the human kingdom of the fantasy world. I just haven’t really been able to get invested in this part of the story. There are a lot of characters that I have trouble keeping straight, and at least so far, have had very little or no interaction with the isekai’ed MC. I am willing to give this series some more time, but this part of the story has not lived up to the other half so far.

• Rebuild World

Short synopsis of this series is that it is a post-apocalyptic setting in which a boy from the slums, exploring the wasteland in search of valuable relics from a technological era gone by, is on the verge of death. In that moment, he sees a woman that nobody else can see, and she provides him support to overcome the harsh world that would have otherwise finished him off.

I am not fully caught up on this series yet, but I am getting pretty close to current. I have enjoyed this series a lot. Akira, the MC, is a fun MC that isn’t somebody that will always jump to do the “right thing” in every situation. He grew up an orphan in the slums, surrounded by death. He is fittingly untrusting of others and will not hesitate to save himself instead of going out of his way to save others.

The relationship that he develops with his partner, Alpha, is pretty fun. There are lots of mysteries around Alpha, but she seems to be some kind of artificial intelligence. For an AI, she has a good sense of humor and teases Akira a lot. They have a really good chemistry together. The bulk of the story revolves around just the two of them doing things in the wasteland/ruins, so if their relationship wasn’t good, then this whole series would fall apart.

wjs018, 20 days ago

I am surprised you couldn’t remember “Sasen Sareta Saikyou Kenja, Kyoushi ni Natte Muteki no Class wo Tsukuriageru” off the top of your head. It rolls right off the tongue 😝. I am glad you have liked it. I often enjoy stories from a teaching perspective, having done some teaching in the past. We get so many stories from the perspective of students in anime/manga, but the teachers are too often just background, side, or comic relief characters rather than the protagonist.

A decent light read to pass the time and relax after work

I love series that fill this role. I often have trouble motivating myself to read the really dramatic, super serious series unless I am in the right mood. Lighter series are like a snack that I can pull up and enjoy any time (healthier than eating an actual snack).

wjs018, 21 days ago

I am not watching as many shows as I normally do this season. Here are some quick thoughts on each of them so far:

• Konosuba - Top condition! This show has come back firing on all cylinders.
• Appraisal Isekai - This has been a fine adaptation. I can’t say that it has done a lot to stand out in my opinion.
• Level 2 Cheat Powers - Dramatic improvement after a painfully generic episode 1. Rys is probably my favorite wolf girl this season. Sorry Holo.
• Loser Ranger - This show has really exceeded my expectations. I never really know what is coming next here.
• 7th Prince - The adaptation has done a good job paying homage to the ridiculous artwork of the manga. I don’t remember liking the story much beyond this point in the manga, so the art will have to carry things.
• Spice and Wolf - Things have moved pretty slowly in this show. I have enjoyed it, but can’t say it has been my most anticipated every week.
• Bartender - Nice, gentle iyashikei about alcohol. If there is a larger story at work here, I haven’t picked up on it yet.

Continuing from last season:

• Tsukimichi - This current arc has been pretty slow. Looking forward to a more action-y finale coming up.
• Delicious in Dungeon - Been lots of fun and I am sad that this is going away soon. Hoping that we don’t have to wait too long for a season 2 and end of the story.

Some things I will keep in reserve for my post next week is that I finished the first season of Apothecary Diaries. I really liked it, so look forward to more of my thoughts on that. After finishing it, I started watching “Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina” and have some thoughts on it so far. I should be done with the show by next week’s post.

wjs018, 21 days ago

Weekly ranking roundup:

1. Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Konosuba
2. Anime Trending - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Date a Live V
3. Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Mushoku Tensei

Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.

The thing I noticed this week about the charts is Mysterious Disappearances is high on AT’s list at #4 while being way down at ~30 on the other two charts. I haven’t been watching it, but that is a pretty huge difference.

wjs018, 20 days ago

I am embarrassed to say I haven’t watched Hibike Euphonium before, despite playing a euphonium-adjacent brass instrument for years and years. I have watched some clips and the show is absolutely gorgeous.

wjs018, 21 days ago

Yeah, I thought Misaki was a girl when I first started this series. Then, I was corrected that Misaki is a boy. Then, the more this plot point comes up, the more sure I am that Misaki is actually a girl.

wjs018, 22 days ago

https://ani.social/pictrs/image/2b36ebd9-4248-4400-9a83-310e43ae4129.webp

Same…

wjs018, 23 days ago

The rare two page chapter. Mary-san and pudding can only exist together very temporarily in close proximity.

wjs018, 24 days ago

Some interesting results this week with Konosuba taking the top spot after a wild episode which was my favorite of the season so far. Also shaking things up is Demon Slayer making the top 10 with the premiere episode. Additionally, after a week off, Loser Ranger made its way back to the top 10. The final one I want to call out is that my favorite romance anime of the season, Level 2 Cheat Powers, cracked the top 10 this week.

wjs018, 24 days ago

I am late to the party on this episode, but it was a fun one. I think my two favorite bits were both Laios-focused. First there was Laios literally scaring away a pack of wolves through his dog impression. Then there was Laios being a little lot too interested in the anatomy of Izutsumi.

The inclusion of Izutsumi into the OP and ED was nice and is a good indication that she will remain a core part of the group going forward. I do think that, even if she doesn’t care about the others at all, her actions were a bit reckless this episode. I mean, even if she hated the others, she has to recognize that, this deep in the dungeon, sticking with other (kinda?) capable adventurers raises her chances of survival as compared to wandering around on her own. I mean, even look to the ice golem fight during this episode as an example.

The sheep plant monster is weird…I kinda think I would have stayed away from that one. I trust you Senshi, but I don’t know about that. Give me a candied Mandrake any day of the week over a plant that grows fully formed sheep that taste like crab. That just has God’s mistake written all over it.

wjs018, 24 days ago

Wow, TIL! I hadn’t heard of this one before. It reminds me of the Headless Men myths of antiquity. Thanks for the info!

wjs018, 24 days ago

To me, the story felt like it narratively wandered a lot compared to modern works. If the show were made today, I suspect that it wouldn’t have spanned 26 episodes, but would have been trimmed quite a bit. Sometimes I enjoyed the diversions, and sometimes I was just wondering why we were focusing on this or that character. I do think it is better than a lot of other shows from its time though. I think it has proven more memorable than a lot of other 90’s shows I have watched and then completely forgotten about.