Spring Anime 2022 (Summertime Render)

[bomaye]

Link

Just skimming the list. Gonna cut it in half so I keep up with only the essentials and have a little space to watch backlog stuff

EndlessA. Pokemon 2019
EB. One Piece

Continuing 1. Boruto
C2. Dragon Quest
C3. Lupin III (if it's continuing, MyAnimeList says it's almost over)

1. Otomege Sekai (this doesn't sound like one I'd stick with, but the concept sounds funny enough that I'll skim the first episode)
2. [Should get back to watching Bleach here]
3.
4.
5.

[Enail]

Nothing that really grabs me, except maybe Deaimon, because Japanese desserts. So if there's anything you're watching anyway, I'm up for picking up something up, even if it's jumping in to a longer-running show.

[Datelessman]

I think LUPIN III: PART VI or VII (if that is whatever part this season is) is still ongoing. I am a member of a Lupin fangroup on FB and they post about new episodes and trailers all the time. Considering PART III went off the air in the mid 1980's and was considered unpopular, I am pleasantly surprised that Lupin has managed to appeal to a new generation of anime fans in a regular TV show the last few years. Granted, 2012 also saw the WOMAN NAMED FUJIKO MINE TV show (which was drastically different), so the appeal for something beyond annual TV specials (a format that kept Lupin relevant from 1989-2014) has been there a while.

The CGI film LUPIN THE FIRST also helped spike interest, I think. The weirdest thing is somehow, Jigen has become a cult sex symbol. Neither of you may realize how many fangirls suddenly find him "cute," especially since he was redesigned as rather handsome in LUPIN THE FIRST. Then again, the character was always inspired by actor James Coburn, who traded on "rugged appeal."

[bomaye]

Whole lot of two things going on this season:

1) Nothing

or

2) Something I'm sorta interested in but it's like a sequel or an adaptation of something I haven't seen yet so I can't jump in

Black Rock Shooter is the only thing that's sorta caught my eye but not because it looks good but just because it's weird and/or possibly edgy, also seems like something I'd drop after two or three weeks

[Enail]

I'd be up for checking Black Rock Shooter out, though you're probably right that it's not going to turn out good.

[bomaye]

So I still haven't outright watched anything but:

Black Rock Shooter, Aoashi (Soccer) and Dance Dance Danseur (Dancing, probably) are the ones I've seen so far that might have a little something interesting to them. Lemme know if you've got any interest in them (or in the case of Black Rock Shooter, anything more than a passing casual interest)

[Enail]

Okay, I'll try and check them out and let you know.

[Enail]

I managed to take at least a quick look at all four, enough to form an opinion on, at least.

Black Rock Shooter is trashy - do they really have to put what looks like a 10-year-old in that ridiculous an outfit? - and has a lot of cliched elements, but some of the really bugfuck weird stuff stands out enough to be interesting, and it's decently entertaining.

Deaimon is exactly what I expected, a little slow and slice-of-life-y (as one might expect of a slice-of-life show ), but cute and very Anime Japan.

Dance Dance Danseur - I haaaate the way they draw eyes, it feels like they looked at what other artists do and decided to just add something different for the sake of being different, without any relation to what eyes are actually like. But otherwise, it wasn't bad, though too much of the whole "wow, he's such a prodigy" thing.

Ao Ashi was the one I'm least interested in, this one also has too much shocking everyone with how amazing and dedicated he is, but I found the main character more annoying and the general set-up less interesting than Dance Dance Danseur, so I'd pick that one over this one.

So basically, I'll skip Ao Ashi, watch either of Black Rock Shooter or Dance Dance Danseur if you're watching one of them, and probably watch Deaimon either way, at least until the novelty of staring at pretty wagashi wears off.

[bomaye]

Might have to try Summertime Render too

[bomaye]

Summertime Render 1

Spoiler:

Think we have a winner

[Enail]

Hmm, how far towards horror is it? If it's more mystery it could be up my alley if it doesn't feel too based-on-a-game-y, but I've seen it compared to Higurashi, which sounds too horror-y for my taste.

[bomaye]

Right now it's leaning more mystery than horror-y but it's too early to say

[Enail]

I'll give it a try, then. After watching a few minutes of Black Rock Shooter 2, the trashiness is pretty quickly outweighing the action and weirdness, and I was pretty neutral on Dance Dance Danseur, so there's not much reason not to switch and give a chance to something potentially better.

Are you still planning to watch either of Black Rock Shooter or Dance Dance Danseur, or did you give up on fitting those in?

[bomaye]

I'll probably keep saying "I mean to watch it" and then never do because I'm too stubborn to admit the loss of some free time is not helping the ability to fit things in

[Enail]

That's about what I would have guessed I don't think you'll be missing a lot with either.

Deaimon 2 - the character storylines are pretty basic so far, doesn't seem like it'll get much better than this, but it's pleasant enough. Not enough wagashi in this episode, though!

Summertime Render - Storytelling's pretty good, it sets up what it needs to smoothly and doesn't waste time. I was worried from the stereotypical fanservice starting off and the fact that the whole thing has a kind of visual novel-ish feel (surprised it wasn't a game first) that it was gonna be all harem types and mindlessly running through cliches on the character front, but so far it seems like the characters are pretty much actual characters. If that changes I'll probably drop it, and I might also if it gets too scary for me, what they've set up could wind up either as thriller or horror and I'm not sure exactly where my line is. But I'm into the type of mystery they're selling and the mechanic they're doing, and it's definitely the most worth watching of the things I've checked out, so I'm going to give it a try.

[Enail]

Had a spare moment, so I got caught up.

Summertime Render 2

Spoiler:

I'm not gonna bother posting about Deaimon since you're not watching it, but please be assured there was lots of pretty Kyoto in this episode!

[bomaye]

I am a) absolutely going to take both of my days off next week and b) going to watch the next two episodes of Summertime Render on the first day (Monday)

[Enail]

Summertime Render 3

Spoiler:

[bomaye]

Summertime Render 2

Spoiler:

I'll do the next one tomorrow

[bomaye]

Summertime Render 3

Spoiler:

[Enail]

Spoiler:

[Enail]

Summertime Render 4

Spoiler:

[bomaye]

Summertime Render 4

Spoiler:

[Enail]

Summertime Render 5

Spoiler:

I landed up dropping Deaimon, it was fine, but it just didn't have enough to motivate me.

[bomaye]

Summertime Render 5

Spoiler:

[Sponsored content]