I just finished the ep. I am very uncertain on my stance on everything. Many things were confusing, and many things I just need to process. I think I need to rewatch, read the manga, and really think things through. One thing I will say is that I always thought AoT would end with conflict still existing in the world to highlight the never ending cycle of violence, and Isayama followed through. Feel free to say anything you want, maybe you'll address some things I'm thinking about. But I'll get back to you with specifics after I'm done with all this processing. Idk how long it'll take
Oh man, you're back. You really didn't have to respond my last post, I honestly forgot about it lol. But I appreciate the effort and enjoyed reading everything. I hope your uni/(job?)/personal life is going well. About Fate, I know I already said this a year ago, but reading the VN is honestly a game changer. There is a LOT more Kirei content in dialogue, actions, and explanations. The HF route by itself is only about 20-25ish hours, but I recommend reading all the routes in order for the true Fate Stay/Night experience. The anime doesn't include everything and leaves out a lot of things or doesn't make a lot of things clear. It made me like characters like Shirou more because the anime couldn't really portray his thoughts and character perfectly. If you do read the VN, I recommend skipping/censoring the H-scenes. They're downright terrible and just and afterthought that Nasu put there to make the game sell "better" back in the day. If you wanna read them a bit just for the "full" experience, you could. But there are alternate scenes that replace those H-scenes that you can set, which are probably a much better choice. This feature is in the Realta Nua version of the game.
And yeah, I can't believe SnK is coming to end for me. Been spoiled a lot, but I'm looking forward to the culmination of MAPPA's hard work this Saturday. I did see Isayama's statement, and I was happy to see that he even worked on the initial rough draft for some scenes. This all but guarantees that he is striving to make the ending more fleshed out, if the episode run time wasn't indicative enough. Maybe this will convert some ending haters, but in the end I only care about my own feelings about the ending. Although I might check out the AoT Requiem project to see how people perceive how their "perfect" ending should be. I know about Shingeki FLY, and I was kinda scared that Isayama was making an extra chapter, but I was relieved to find out that it was just a side story. Are you gonna get the artbook? 20k yen is a lot and way overpriced for an artbook, no matter how many "bonuses" they add on. I thought about it but ultimately decided not to. I haven't seen much myself of fans expressing their gratitude directly to him for the ending, but I can only imagine the sadness and stress that people have caused him. Since the anime is his "definitive" version of SnK, hopefully he can get closure. I hope you can find the right words to explain why he is so important to you, which I'd love to hear someday. And even if you don't it's completely fine because your inner feelings are what really matter.
[-----If anyone reading this has not watched Attack on Titan Part 3, stop reading.------]
I have had multiple things I thought about discussing with you about SnK, but the only thing I can think of off the top of my head rn is in Part 3, specifically Floch surviving and causing Hange's death. I still don't really know how to feel about Floch not dying by Gabi's hand. At first, it felt really random, and one could even say it was a forced way to kill off Hange, and maybe it's copium, but I think it's to parallel Erwin, even to the end. They both became devils for the causes they believed in, had their own suicide charges, and seemingly died, only to barely hang on to life. Except that Floch was able to physically contribute to his cause in the very end. Yes, Erwin left behind a legendary legacy and helped Levi almost get Zeke, but you know what I mean. I read the manga chapters for this episode after watching, and I am glad that MAPPA gave Hange the proper send off she deserved. The manga didn't do a very good job of portraying the usefulness of her sacrifice and only lasted a few panels. When I read those pages, I was taken aback how unceremonious it seemed.
I will obviously finish the manga after watching the last episode, but of course I will go into the manga very biased after watching the very likely improved anime version. So I don't think I truly have the right to say "the manga readers were wrong", but I am very interested to see what is added or changed. I still wonder what MAPPA has animated that had Isayama apologizing, but people have compared the ending to End of Eva and Code Geass. I can only assume the hard to animate stuff will be similar to Eva, and obviously we know what happens to Lelouch. And through spoilers and obvious hints in the story, I wonder how well this time loop ending is gonna be handled. I don't know all the details, but I can elaborate my thoughts when it's all over.
Not sure if you have a Discord, but it would probably be more convenient for me since I see messages right away and can help if you ever decide to find the Fate VN links. If you prefer MAL instead, that's perfectly fine.
Heyo, hope you've been well. I've had a lot of time recently to just watch whatever I want since I am on break, so I'm just gonna talk about your recently finished anime that we've both watched. It'll just be be rambling so don't worry about replying fast or at all.
Firstly, Chainsaw Man. For the longest time, I was really excited to get to it since everyone was treating it like the second coming of Christ, but I shouldn't have had such high expectations. Definitely not "the next SnK" people were preaching about, but maybe my standards and taste are just weird. The things I do like about CSM are the OP, unique EDs for every episode, Makima, Power's antics, and some seconds of animation for various action scenes. Plus, the dynamic between Denji and Power is pretty entertaining. Although I have to say that I did not expect high pitched voices for Makima and Power. It still seems kinda weird, but it makes Makima scarier than she already is. And I still simp for her. But I can definitely appreciate how smooth and pretty some of the non-action animation can be, like when Makima and her goons pull up to the warehouse in the first episode. Next level stuff. Everything else is alright. If I do watch more seasons, it will probably just be because of Makima.
I feel like Spy x Family part 2 wasn't as good as part 1, but I don't really know why. Maybe it's because the freshness of the whole spy x assassin x psychic premise wore off a bit, which makes me a bit sad. Jojo Stone Ocean was a pretty bad to mid adaptation imo, and a lot of batches 1 and 2 were a real slog to get through. Maybe it's because I had already read the manga and knew what would happen, but I feel like regardless a good adaption wouldn't make me feel that way. Batch 3 was leagues better, and I wish the first two batches received the same treatment. Either way, we've finished the OG JJBA universe, and hopefully SBR will get a better production. The alternate OP that played in the last episode was beautiful though. It paid homage to the entire JJBA series up until that point.
Now for the main course, I see that you somewhat recently got into Fate, which pleasantly surprised me. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like you started with the prequel Fate/Zero before watching the original series. How was this watching order for you? I feel like it is definitely better to watch the prequel after the main series since that is the order as intended, but it seems that didn't ruin your enjoyment of Zero, because you gave it a big fat 10/10, which is great. I did not expect that, but I agree since I think it is the best Fate. Glad to see that you enjoyed UBW as well, but I see that the HF movies didn't sit too well with you lol. I must admit that on my first watch through, I didn't like the movies that much because it felt rushed and confusing. But some time later, I read the source material visual novel, and my perspective on Fate/Stay Night changed. Ufotable did well in adapting the VN, but there's only so much that anime can do in terms of character thoughts and explaining character motivations thoroughly. I feel like reading the VN increases your understanding and appreciation of the anime adaptations, including the HF movies. After reading the VN, I was able to enjoy the movies much more by having more knowledge of the lore and character motivations. I do recommend giving the VN a shot, but it can daunting to people who don't want to sink hours of their life into reading text (the VN has voice acting, music, and sound effects tho so it's more immersive than just reading text). My playthrough of all three routes totaled around 80 hours (I know, yikes), but I'd say it's worth it. Plus, I don't think you've experienced Saber's route since you only watched the Ufotable adaptations. Which is good because you should stay away from Studio Deen's Fate route, but like I said you're missing out on Saber's route. I'm not sure how much you like Fate as a whole, but I recommend to at least watch Fate/Apocrypha. While not as good as the Fate/Stay Night and Zero adaptations, it's still worth a watch imo.
Last one, I see that you've started Cyberpunk Edgerunners. What do you think of it so far? The whole thing turned out a lot better than I expected. While one could argue that the show does nothing that other shows haven't done, I feel like the presentation of everything is so clean and enjoyable. Probably the best anime I've seen in a while. I did watch it in dub tho because it was kinda wack to hear Cyberpunk characters speak Japanese, and the JP voice actors weren't that good imo. While the English VAs sometimes suffer from the usual "English voices trying to sound like anime characters don't sound good" syndrome, it's probably the better experience and made me enjoy the show more.
Also, how did you customize your anime list page? I think it's pretty neat that you can hover over an entry to see the full thumbnail art. And can you recommend me a show to watch next? I'm kinda burnt out atm from watching stuff with high expectations only to be let down, so I probably will be giving watching a break for now. It's fine if I don't like your recommendation as much as you do, I'll take anything. Just not LOGH because I don't want that huge a time sink rn lol.
I think if I had a MAL account from the beginning and had the mindset of I'll rate this show X, then my average score might be lower. It's hard to rate things you watched so long ago when you weren't thinking about those things back then. I'm trying to be more reasonable to prevent my average score from being too high, but yeah it's not like you need to redo your criteria.
I've heard of Anilist but never really checked it out since MAL is sufficient for me. But I think I'll see what it is to see if I wanna make the switch. Good points about SxF, I can't wait to see what is next. I think I'll give VS a shot after I finish Snafu, but I was also thinking about starting Kingdom. The 720 chapter count is kinda scary tho. It took me forever to finish Berserk, and it has half the amount of chapters that Kingdom does. I don't really see Kaguya's quality downgrading, but I'm biased and really love the show. We'll see.
Actually to clear up one of my points, SnK is leagues more important to me than S:G, but the latter still deserves a 10 because of how much it means to me. So certain scores have sub tiers of how good they are. Also, I think it's pretty interesting to see that we have the same exact ratings for the main seasons of SnK.
For your point where you brought Spy x Family down to an 8 because being one point below SnK, I understand, but for me, a rating of 10 is more than just one point higher than a 9. Like you said, 10s are masterpieces that deserve no lower than a 10. For me, that only includes SnK and Steins; Gate atm, so in order for an anime to deserve a 10, it has to be as good as those two. I doubt I will ever find another anime that meets this criteria personally, which is why I am fine rating so many anime a 9. To me, 9s are just the best out there besides the fact that they are not as good as my 10s. But I feel like I still rate too generously for other anime. Or maybe I just haven't watched enough bad ones.
Rating manga seems different for some reason, and I opted to have Berserk as my only current 10. That's not to say that my manga 9s are bad in any way, but they just aren't Berserk level. Instead, they are "honorary" 10s that I still love very much.
So that's why I think it's fine for you to rate things higher than "normal" because it's based on enjoyment. I don't think you necessarily have to find a show or manga special to rate it highly (except for 10s and high 9s), but in the end it's up to you since your ratings are only for yourself. For example, you rated TG; RE a 10 when you first finished it, but I think at some point you brought it down to a 9 probably because it didn't feel right to sit next to SnK. But now I see that it's back up to a 10, which makes me happy. Obviously SnK is on a whole other level for you, and it doesn't necessarily mean that other things with similar scores are at that same level.
I say this like they're real, but I don't know if it'll be "healthy" if the Spy x Family cast never find out each other's true identities since they will never know the true nature of each other. Kinda like if Love is War never had a confession arc, which I'm hyped for rn. Such a shame that it seems that the last eps of this season won't finish the arc. Idk I'm not a manga reader.
Never heard of Hell's Paradise. Have you read it? I'm tempted to wait for the adaptation since it's done publishing. Also I've heard that VS season 2 covers the Farmland Arc, so I imagine that there won't be as much action or something. Might be easier for MAPPA's animators. I still don't know if I should start VS or not since the manga is still publishing. Is it on hiatus or still going?
Not sure if you're aware of OPM season 2's production, but let's just say Madhouse didn't do that season. That's all I'll say, but I'm curious to know what you think after you finish it. I also expected a lot from Bebop, but at least I did find some things to like.
I've reworked my rating system so many times already, and I'm trying to be more mindful of what I rate things after I finish them. In the end it doesn't really matter, but I can't help it when there's a big average rating on my profile lol. It really makes me think hard about how I should really rate things based on my actual enjoyment. My 10s will forever stay 10s, and the vast majority of my 9s will stay as well, but it's everything below that where I'm not too sure if those are the actual scores I want to give. I don't think anything below a 7 matters anyway.
I'm not sure why I thought Spy x Family was over, but I was so confident that I didn't even bother to check lol. I wonder how it will continue to develop and end. I'm pretty sure everyone wants them to become an actual family in the end since that's kinda the point of putting them in a fake family in the first place.
I just hope I get to finish Berserk before I die. I say that like I'm an old geezer, but I'm still very young lol. Not sure how often they'll be dropping new chapters, but I think Miura was 50%-75% done with the story. I'll have to fact check later.
I know it's old news, but I was surprised to hear that MAPPA took over another WIT project, that being Vinland Saga. Seems like MAPPA is getting all the goodies, but not sure what that means for overworking its animators and staff.
Yo, it has been a while indeed. Real good to hear from you again. I've been busy this summer with an internship, but that just gives me the opportunity to binge some anime in my down time.
I've been meaning to watch Mob Psycho since I'm a big fan of One Punch Man, and it was pretty great. The art style and animation were really unique and amazing. I'm pretty hyped for season 3, which is going to air this year. And yeah Reigen is the goat. It's literally an anime with two Saitamas and I'm all for it.
Bebop was another one that I've been meaning to watch because of how popular it is. I agree that I didn't really appreciate the episodic approach, but the little moments were enough to make me like it. Especially the ending man. It was so beautiful and made the whole thing worth the watch.
I'm a fan of Spy x Family (who isn't), and I'm super glad that season 2 was already announced a long time ago. I can see new seasons getting pumped out one after the other because of its insane popularity, and it's even better since the manga is already finished. That's why I'll just wait for new eps instead of reading the manga. I'm a basic Yor simp, and I welcome everything the anime brings to the table. It's just so fun to watch.
I know you're not as a big a Berserk fan, but it's insane that two new chapters will be dropping in a matter of days. It's been more than a year since Miura's passing, so I already accepted that that was it. So lucky that his assistants and close friend will continue to honor his work. It will be interesting to see how they continue the manga, but I'm sure it would make Miura proud.
As someone who hasn't watched the OVA, saying that I'm impressed with thed DNT is an understatement. I'm actually really happy I don't have anything to compare it to and that I went in completely blind. I don't think Production I.G will drop it (it'd be extremely sad if they do because I'm already so invested in the story), but it'll take some time for them to finish it entirely. I wish it was marketed more and received the attention it deserves. I think as a story it has so much to offer, whether it be the characters, the criticism of the political corruption or the animation and music. I heard so many good things about what's going to come after, but I also heard that at some point it gets very depressing. Regardless, I'm excited to see it all.
I am also thinking about buying the books because I'm sure they'd be just as interesting as the anime adaptation. Really glad to see someone else enjoying the show, I hope one day it gets the recognition it deserves by the anime community. Though, I also like that it's niche because we have less people spewing nonsense.
Thanks for the clarification about Eren learning about what really happened in the cave when touching Historia's hand. This just calls for a rewatch when this is all done. I found everything you said to be interesting, especially the trust topic. You make a very good point that Eren is taking everything into his own hands now. There is no higher authority above him, and now he's all grown up, making his own decisions for what he believes is best.
Oh I see, the shipbait with Eren and Historia makes a lot of sense. I agree that MAPPA did well to blend the episode with Mikasa's relationship since I couldn't even guess who the shipbait was lol. Obviously it was never Yams' intention to do this, certain weebs always try to find ships that don't exist.
Everyone calls the Paths time travel, and it always irks me since I don't see it that way at all (even if it may technically be the case). Eren and Zeke were able to access their father's memories because Grisha was the previous Attack Titan, all Eldians are connected through Paths, Grisha was their father, or all of the above. When Grisha was able to interact with Eren and Zeke, I feel like it was because of a combination of being of being able to see Eren's future memories and being connected to the Paths, not necessarily time travel. So what I'm basically saying is that I see it as not really time travel and more like being able to see Eren's future memories and being to strongly connected to the Paths.
As for having no impact on the story, wth? Through the Paths, Zeke is able to find peace with his father, whom he learned to hate and work against for the Eldian people. Both Eren and Zeke get to revisit and learn how troubled Eren was even as a kid, which further reminds the audience that Eren was always like this. Eren gained the feelings of freedom and defending it at all costs by himself, with no influence from his father. Because of all this, Zeke's motives and drive to save the Eldians and Eren came crashing down, or at least was diminished greatly imo. This shows that Eren is the one with the most knowledge and control at this moment. All this has a significant impact on the story
And this is not even taking into account the most obvious impact of the Paths: recontextualizing certain events that were once seen as insignificant. Grisha did everything he did BECAUSE of Eren. He knew that his son would one day inherit his titan, but would bring terrible things. When Eren saw his father's memories through Historia in the cave, he saw what his own self was going to do through his father's memories. Like you mentioned before, this started Eren's self loathing and influenced his character and actions from then on. Without seeing this in the Paths, the audience would never know the reason why Eren is so adamant in destroying his enemies and going the route he is going. He knows that he HAS to do bad things in order to save he ones he loves. Knowing your fate and the suffering you'll cause is tragic, but Eren is strong enough to keep moving forward and to carry through.
Tldr, the Paths shaped Eren's actions and character to make him the person he is today.
Yup manga can just portray certain things better than anime so I get it. But now I'm kinda scared for MAPPA that they haven't reached the apologizing part yet. Really wonder what it'll be. I think the two halves of ep 12 complemented each other nicely because of how different they were, so it's interesting to see how MAPPA switched those scenes up compared to the manga.
Which shipbait are you referring to? And how did MAPPA annihilate it? All I can think of is Eren and Mikasa off the top of my head. Possibly Annie.
Hey, hope you've been well. I know you're busy, so don't feel pressured to respond right away. This last episode finally gave us the character flashbacks you were talking about, and it was so nice to see the gang in a "normal" setting for a little bit. I do find it interesting that the relationship between Eren and Mikasa might play a bigger role than I thought, but it sucks that I have to wait to learn more. Besides that, what you do you think of this adaptation as a whole? I mean for Part 2 specifically. I thought it was amazing and a huge step up compared to Part 1, especially since MAPPA put their heart and soul into many scenes. This includes Connie's, Floch's, and Mikasa's scenes in episode 11, which were just a few panels in the manga. Also, has MAPPA adapted the part where Isayama apologized that MAPPA had to animate something so hard to visualize? If not, then it must be something even bigger than the Rumbling.
Ah I see. I feel like the previous episodes have built up what is currently going on, and what will happen. I think it'll be fine. You make a good point that the Female Titan is agile like the Jaw, but to be fair the Jaw wasn't bipedal and moved differently compared to the other shifters. Although I do recall in episode 1 of this part where the Jaw did a bunch of flips when running from Eren, and it looked pretty good. Not sure if that was in 3D or 2D, but still. But yeah I just hope her 3D/2D movements work well with her speed.
Btw, have you seen this fanart before? https://twitter.com/kerbyrosanes/status/1362368077124366343?lang=en
I am super obsessed with it, but unfortunately the artist is not selling any prints. Lots of people have already stolen his art and are selling on multiple sites, but I think I want to find a custom site that lets you print out posters. Can't really find a consensus on what a good site is, but I'll still keep looking.
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And yeah, I can't believe SnK is coming to end for me. Been spoiled a lot, but I'm looking forward to the culmination of MAPPA's hard work this Saturday. I did see Isayama's statement, and I was happy to see that he even worked on the initial rough draft for some scenes. This all but guarantees that he is striving to make the ending more fleshed out, if the episode run time wasn't indicative enough. Maybe this will convert some ending haters, but in the end I only care about my own feelings about the ending. Although I might check out the AoT Requiem project to see how people perceive how their "perfect" ending should be. I know about Shingeki FLY, and I was kinda scared that Isayama was making an extra chapter, but I was relieved to find out that it was just a side story. Are you gonna get the artbook? 20k yen is a lot and way overpriced for an artbook, no matter how many "bonuses" they add on. I thought about it but ultimately decided not to. I haven't seen much myself of fans expressing their gratitude directly to him for the ending, but I can only imagine the sadness and stress that people have caused him. Since the anime is his "definitive" version of SnK, hopefully he can get closure. I hope you can find the right words to explain why he is so important to you, which I'd love to hear someday. And even if you don't it's completely fine because your inner feelings are what really matter.
[-----If anyone reading this has not watched Attack on Titan Part 3, stop reading.------]
I have had multiple things I thought about discussing with you about SnK, but the only thing I can think of off the top of my head rn is in Part 3, specifically Floch surviving and causing Hange's death. I still don't really know how to feel about Floch not dying by Gabi's hand. At first, it felt really random, and one could even say it was a forced way to kill off Hange, and maybe it's copium, but I think it's to parallel Erwin, even to the end. They both became devils for the causes they believed in, had their own suicide charges, and seemingly died, only to barely hang on to life. Except that Floch was able to physically contribute to his cause in the very end. Yes, Erwin left behind a legendary legacy and helped Levi almost get Zeke, but you know what I mean. I read the manga chapters for this episode after watching, and I am glad that MAPPA gave Hange the proper send off she deserved. The manga didn't do a very good job of portraying the usefulness of her sacrifice and only lasted a few panels. When I read those pages, I was taken aback how unceremonious it seemed.
I will obviously finish the manga after watching the last episode, but of course I will go into the manga very biased after watching the very likely improved anime version. So I don't think I truly have the right to say "the manga readers were wrong", but I am very interested to see what is added or changed. I still wonder what MAPPA has animated that had Isayama apologizing, but people have compared the ending to End of Eva and Code Geass. I can only assume the hard to animate stuff will be similar to Eva, and obviously we know what happens to Lelouch. And through spoilers and obvious hints in the story, I wonder how well this time loop ending is gonna be handled. I don't know all the details, but I can elaborate my thoughts when it's all over.
Not sure if you have a Discord, but it would probably be more convenient for me since I see messages right away and can help if you ever decide to find the Fate VN links. If you prefer MAL instead, that's perfectly fine.
Firstly, Chainsaw Man. For the longest time, I was really excited to get to it since everyone was treating it like the second coming of Christ, but I shouldn't have had such high expectations. Definitely not "the next SnK" people were preaching about, but maybe my standards and taste are just weird. The things I do like about CSM are the OP, unique EDs for every episode, Makima, Power's antics, and some seconds of animation for various action scenes. Plus, the dynamic between Denji and Power is pretty entertaining. Although I have to say that I did not expect high pitched voices for Makima and Power. It still seems kinda weird, but it makes Makima scarier than she already is. And I still simp for her. But I can definitely appreciate how smooth and pretty some of the non-action animation can be, like when Makima and her goons pull up to the warehouse in the first episode. Next level stuff. Everything else is alright. If I do watch more seasons, it will probably just be because of Makima.
I feel like Spy x Family part 2 wasn't as good as part 1, but I don't really know why. Maybe it's because the freshness of the whole spy x assassin x psychic premise wore off a bit, which makes me a bit sad. Jojo Stone Ocean was a pretty bad to mid adaptation imo, and a lot of batches 1 and 2 were a real slog to get through. Maybe it's because I had already read the manga and knew what would happen, but I feel like regardless a good adaption wouldn't make me feel that way. Batch 3 was leagues better, and I wish the first two batches received the same treatment. Either way, we've finished the OG JJBA universe, and hopefully SBR will get a better production. The alternate OP that played in the last episode was beautiful though. It paid homage to the entire JJBA series up until that point.
Now for the main course, I see that you somewhat recently got into Fate, which pleasantly surprised me. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like you started with the prequel Fate/Zero before watching the original series. How was this watching order for you? I feel like it is definitely better to watch the prequel after the main series since that is the order as intended, but it seems that didn't ruin your enjoyment of Zero, because you gave it a big fat 10/10, which is great. I did not expect that, but I agree since I think it is the best Fate. Glad to see that you enjoyed UBW as well, but I see that the HF movies didn't sit too well with you lol. I must admit that on my first watch through, I didn't like the movies that much because it felt rushed and confusing. But some time later, I read the source material visual novel, and my perspective on Fate/Stay Night changed. Ufotable did well in adapting the VN, but there's only so much that anime can do in terms of character thoughts and explaining character motivations thoroughly. I feel like reading the VN increases your understanding and appreciation of the anime adaptations, including the HF movies. After reading the VN, I was able to enjoy the movies much more by having more knowledge of the lore and character motivations. I do recommend giving the VN a shot, but it can daunting to people who don't want to sink hours of their life into reading text (the VN has voice acting, music, and sound effects tho so it's more immersive than just reading text). My playthrough of all three routes totaled around 80 hours (I know, yikes), but I'd say it's worth it. Plus, I don't think you've experienced Saber's route since you only watched the Ufotable adaptations. Which is good because you should stay away from Studio Deen's Fate route, but like I said you're missing out on Saber's route. I'm not sure how much you like Fate as a whole, but I recommend to at least watch Fate/Apocrypha. While not as good as the Fate/Stay Night and Zero adaptations, it's still worth a watch imo.
Last one, I see that you've started Cyberpunk Edgerunners. What do you think of it so far? The whole thing turned out a lot better than I expected. While one could argue that the show does nothing that other shows haven't done, I feel like the presentation of everything is so clean and enjoyable. Probably the best anime I've seen in a while. I did watch it in dub tho because it was kinda wack to hear Cyberpunk characters speak Japanese, and the JP voice actors weren't that good imo. While the English VAs sometimes suffer from the usual "English voices trying to sound like anime characters don't sound good" syndrome, it's probably the better experience and made me enjoy the show more.
Also, how did you customize your anime list page? I think it's pretty neat that you can hover over an entry to see the full thumbnail art. And can you recommend me a show to watch next? I'm kinda burnt out atm from watching stuff with high expectations only to be let down, so I probably will be giving watching a break for now. It's fine if I don't like your recommendation as much as you do, I'll take anything. Just not LOGH because I don't want that huge a time sink rn lol.
I've heard of Anilist but never really checked it out since MAL is sufficient for me. But I think I'll see what it is to see if I wanna make the switch. Good points about SxF, I can't wait to see what is next. I think I'll give VS a shot after I finish Snafu, but I was also thinking about starting Kingdom. The 720 chapter count is kinda scary tho. It took me forever to finish Berserk, and it has half the amount of chapters that Kingdom does. I don't really see Kaguya's quality downgrading, but I'm biased and really love the show. We'll see.
Rating manga seems different for some reason, and I opted to have Berserk as my only current 10. That's not to say that my manga 9s are bad in any way, but they just aren't Berserk level. Instead, they are "honorary" 10s that I still love very much.
So that's why I think it's fine for you to rate things higher than "normal" because it's based on enjoyment. I don't think you necessarily have to find a show or manga special to rate it highly (except for 10s and high 9s), but in the end it's up to you since your ratings are only for yourself. For example, you rated TG; RE a 10 when you first finished it, but I think at some point you brought it down to a 9 probably because it didn't feel right to sit next to SnK. But now I see that it's back up to a 10, which makes me happy. Obviously SnK is on a whole other level for you, and it doesn't necessarily mean that other things with similar scores are at that same level.
I say this like they're real, but I don't know if it'll be "healthy" if the Spy x Family cast never find out each other's true identities since they will never know the true nature of each other. Kinda like if Love is War never had a confession arc, which I'm hyped for rn. Such a shame that it seems that the last eps of this season won't finish the arc. Idk I'm not a manga reader.
Never heard of Hell's Paradise. Have you read it? I'm tempted to wait for the adaptation since it's done publishing. Also I've heard that VS season 2 covers the Farmland Arc, so I imagine that there won't be as much action or something. Might be easier for MAPPA's animators. I still don't know if I should start VS or not since the manga is still publishing. Is it on hiatus or still going?
I've reworked my rating system so many times already, and I'm trying to be more mindful of what I rate things after I finish them. In the end it doesn't really matter, but I can't help it when there's a big average rating on my profile lol. It really makes me think hard about how I should really rate things based on my actual enjoyment. My 10s will forever stay 10s, and the vast majority of my 9s will stay as well, but it's everything below that where I'm not too sure if those are the actual scores I want to give. I don't think anything below a 7 matters anyway.
I'm not sure why I thought Spy x Family was over, but I was so confident that I didn't even bother to check lol. I wonder how it will continue to develop and end. I'm pretty sure everyone wants them to become an actual family in the end since that's kinda the point of putting them in a fake family in the first place.
I just hope I get to finish Berserk before I die. I say that like I'm an old geezer, but I'm still very young lol. Not sure how often they'll be dropping new chapters, but I think Miura was 50%-75% done with the story. I'll have to fact check later.
I know it's old news, but I was surprised to hear that MAPPA took over another WIT project, that being Vinland Saga. Seems like MAPPA is getting all the goodies, but not sure what that means for overworking its animators and staff.
I've been meaning to watch Mob Psycho since I'm a big fan of One Punch Man, and it was pretty great. The art style and animation were really unique and amazing. I'm pretty hyped for season 3, which is going to air this year. And yeah Reigen is the goat. It's literally an anime with two Saitamas and I'm all for it.
Bebop was another one that I've been meaning to watch because of how popular it is. I agree that I didn't really appreciate the episodic approach, but the little moments were enough to make me like it. Especially the ending man. It was so beautiful and made the whole thing worth the watch.
I'm a fan of Spy x Family (who isn't), and I'm super glad that season 2 was already announced a long time ago. I can see new seasons getting pumped out one after the other because of its insane popularity, and it's even better since the manga is already finished. That's why I'll just wait for new eps instead of reading the manga. I'm a basic Yor simp, and I welcome everything the anime brings to the table. It's just so fun to watch.
I know you're not as a big a Berserk fan, but it's insane that two new chapters will be dropping in a matter of days. It's been more than a year since Miura's passing, so I already accepted that that was it. So lucky that his assistants and close friend will continue to honor his work. It will be interesting to see how they continue the manga, but I'm sure it would make Miura proud.
I am also thinking about buying the books because I'm sure they'd be just as interesting as the anime adaptation. Really glad to see someone else enjoying the show, I hope one day it gets the recognition it deserves by the anime community. Though, I also like that it's niche because we have less people spewing nonsense.
Everyone calls the Paths time travel, and it always irks me since I don't see it that way at all (even if it may technically be the case). Eren and Zeke were able to access their father's memories because Grisha was the previous Attack Titan, all Eldians are connected through Paths, Grisha was their father, or all of the above. When Grisha was able to interact with Eren and Zeke, I feel like it was because of a combination of being of being able to see Eren's future memories and being connected to the Paths, not necessarily time travel. So what I'm basically saying is that I see it as not really time travel and more like being able to see Eren's future memories and being to strongly connected to the Paths.
As for having no impact on the story, wth? Through the Paths, Zeke is able to find peace with his father, whom he learned to hate and work against for the Eldian people. Both Eren and Zeke get to revisit and learn how troubled Eren was even as a kid, which further reminds the audience that Eren was always like this. Eren gained the feelings of freedom and defending it at all costs by himself, with no influence from his father. Because of all this, Zeke's motives and drive to save the Eldians and Eren came crashing down, or at least was diminished greatly imo. This shows that Eren is the one with the most knowledge and control at this moment. All this has a significant impact on the story
And this is not even taking into account the most obvious impact of the Paths: recontextualizing certain events that were once seen as insignificant. Grisha did everything he did BECAUSE of Eren. He knew that his son would one day inherit his titan, but would bring terrible things. When Eren saw his father's memories through Historia in the cave, he saw what his own self was going to do through his father's memories. Like you mentioned before, this started Eren's self loathing and influenced his character and actions from then on. Without seeing this in the Paths, the audience would never know the reason why Eren is so adamant in destroying his enemies and going the route he is going. He knows that he HAS to do bad things in order to save he ones he loves. Knowing your fate and the suffering you'll cause is tragic, but Eren is strong enough to keep moving forward and to carry through.
Tldr, the Paths shaped Eren's actions and character to make him the person he is today.
Which shipbait are you referring to? And how did MAPPA annihilate it? All I can think of is Eren and Mikasa off the top of my head. Possibly Annie.
Btw, have you seen this fanart before? https://twitter.com/kerbyrosanes/status/1362368077124366343?lang=en
I am super obsessed with it, but unfortunately the artist is not selling any prints. Lots of people have already stolen his art and are selling on multiple sites, but I think I want to find a custom site that lets you print out posters. Can't really find a consensus on what a good site is, but I'll still keep looking.