Postby pwhodges » Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:53 pm
Seasons come, seasons go.
Outgoing:
Carole & Tuesday came to an end. It was a pleasant watch, with some nice music, but although things were largely wrapped up in the final episode, I found myself not really caring very much. We didn't get to see any kind of reconciliation between Tuesday and her mum, and several episodes had been given over to introducing characters (such as Desmond) whose purpose was only to sing along in the last episode. In the end it was not as good as I'd hoped it would be.
Given was great. The music was fun, and did what the show needed it to do. I loved the designs. And the story of confused young (gay) love was appropriately confusingly presented. Indeed, it gets a load more confusing in the continuation of the manga, which I presume will give rise to another season in the not-too-distant future. If you're into BL and its interaction with the dynamics of a rock band, then this was for you.
Fruits Basket - the 2019 remake. This has covered much the same ground as the original anime, also with some rearrangement of the order of things. However, it has ended in such a way that the continuation into the rest of the story will be natural - something which the ending of the old anime had rendered pretty impossible. I don't dislike the previous anime, as I understand the mangaka did, but I will happily concede that the new version is better. Curiously, the Japanese dub voices are all new, whereas the English dub voices are nearly all reprising their roles from fifteen years ago! I was content with either. It's a decent manga, and it deserves to have a complete anime adaptation. We are only 1/4 of the way in by page count, but as so often happens the manga gets more spread out and flabby as it proceeds; I rather suspect that it could be decently completed in another two cours, though I could see them giving it three - four would be too stretched IMO. If you liked the old version, this is a treat; if you didn't, then it's different enough for you to give it a whirl.
Sarazanmai. Like its predecessors (Utena, Penguindrum, YKA (Yurikuma Arashi)) this was largely incomprehensible on first watch, though very pretty. It has been described as a BL variant of YKA, but that doesn't really say anything useful at all. Whether it will end up getting the recognition that Utena and Penguindrum, at least, have done I cannot say... It probably will - at any rate, I enjoyed it first time through more than I did YKA.
Incoming:
Kono oto Tomare! is back for another cour. The first episode felt like the real completion of the first cour, actually, but set up the start of the progression to the next arc of the story just fine. This is a well-made story about relationships, past and present, and different ways of taking responsibility, both individually and in a group (the group being the school club for playing the Koto - a traditional Japanese instrument somewhat like a zither). The manga is well on the way to reaching the point at which a third season would be possible, but isn't quite there yet.
I haven't yet come across any other new shows that I want to watch; doubtless I will be persuaded by something, but in a way I hope not, as I'll have less time for watching this autumn anyway!
Ongoing:
I'm still enjoying Black Clover, though I'd be hard put to write a real recommendation for it!
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important." (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?" (from: The Eccentric Family )Avatar: The end of the journey (details); Past avatars.Before 3.0+1.0 there was Afterwards... my post-Q Evangelion fanfic (
discussion)