Not sure exactly what is meant by “resonated with you”, but I really liked Chihayafuru. It’s about an old card game that’s niche even in Japan where someone reads out the first half of a poem, and then each competitor tries to touch the card with the second half of that poem first. Sounds boring, but this show is proof that execution is what really matters.

Similarly, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju is a great story about aspiring rakugoka. All you need is some good human drama and suddenly anything can be extremely interesting (no offense meant to the art of rakugo).

Yeah… I’m not a huge fan of Netflix or Crunchyroll but at least they have essential features like “a next episode button that consistently navigates to the next episode” or “a video player that consistently plays videos”. It’s honestly surprising that Hidive is still around.

It’s pretty good. I’ve read ahead a bit (up to the end of volume 10) and I’m satisfied with where the story is going. The mangaka has shown that she can write a good story before, so I have really really high hopes that it’ll end well too.

Akiba Maid War suffered in the west from only being on Hidive. That site barely even functions.

I think I’d be hard-pressed to think of 7 2000s anime with worse worldbuilding than most isekai.

Whenever I see the title like this it gives a strong impression that they literally can’t think of anything more interesting to say than “GaMeR wItH bObS!?”

Yes, some girls play video games. It’s not exactly news.

and $13 USD per Manga book is hardly sustainable.

TBF I have a couple of manga in both English and Japanese and the English copies are larger and nicer. Also, they have to pay translators. Still wish it were as cheap as it is in Japan, but at least they aren’t throwing all of the price difference into stockholder pockets.

As for the merch, 90%+ what I buy is Gunpla and fortunately that’s only a little more expensive in the US. It is more expensive though, and it’s not like they’re sending us higher quality kits. I guess international shipping isn’t free. My condolences if you’re into the stuff that actually is overpriced though; I don’t want to give the impression I don’t think some things actually just cost too much. And an even bigger problem is availability; there’s tons of stuff that’s only available to buy in Japan, sometimes in-person.

Edit: I also think the manga thing is at least partially economy of scale; I’ve seen some of the more popular manga like Demon Slayer going for closer to $5/volume in a box set.

It’s not exactly a secret that having lots of competition isn’t great for profits. Works out well for us though!

True, Eizouken was tons of fun. Shame it only got the one season.

Oh yeah, I really enjoyed that one.

Journal With Witch, MAO, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Witch Hat Atelier, The Ramparts of Ice, and You and I Are Polar Opposites, just to name a few good ones from this year alone.

Huh? Did we just get Netflix’d by Crunchyroll? There are 12 mini-episodes up!

Yakitate Japan is my favorite, but since it was already mentioned I guess I’ll say Akane Banashi. Ending isn’t written yet, so fingers crossed that it’ll be good!

I had no idea that was out; thanks for the reminder!

Besides continuing to watch each excellent episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Witch Hat Atelier, and others, I also gave a few new things a try this week:

• Nippon Sangoku - I watched the first five episodes of this one. First off, gorgeous art. Very unique style. Looks great both still and in motion. Unfortunately I don’t think the writing works for me. It feels like it’s trying to convince me that certain characters are smart simply by making everyone around them extremely stupid. The show often feels like it’s trying to be serious, but the stupidity is so over-the-top it breaks the mood. Also, it sometimes feels like I’m watching “smart” characters make dumb choices. I’ll probably watch more, but if I was to drop something this season this would probably be it.
• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - I love me a dumbass protagonist. Girl gets time travel powers but is to goddamn stupid to use them well. Overall enjoyable watch, but not quite the best movie I saw this week.
• Summer Wars - Same director as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Made in 2009 and boy does it feel like it was! First off, the “main plot” if I can even call it that is some sort of hacking nonsense. The hacking nonsense itself doesn’t feel as compelling as the main plot of Jumping Time Girl did, but moment to moment I actually found this one to be extremely enjoyable. Honestly I think you could argue the real main plot was just Natsuki’s family interacting with each other and the crazy events happening as the movie progresses. As someone who attends more than one family reunion per year on average the portrayal of the chaos and the collection of mismatched weirdos really hit home. Every moment we spend hanging out with Natsuki’s family is a good moment, and that’s most of the movie, so despite not caring for the hacking stuff I think I overall enjoyed this movie more between the two.

What a bizarre episode. MC’s new boss is supposedly the biggest thorn in fatso’s side, but fatso makes sure he gets recognition for his accomplishments? And then all of this supposed “thorn”'s allies get slaughtered while he does nothing?

I love the art, but I don’t jel with the writing. It’s like Crank said in the previous episode’s discussion; an anime that tries to make the main character smart by making everyone else stupid isn’t compelling.

Right? As far as they’re concerned it’s a feature not a bug.

Looks like it’ll be worth a watch!

It also sounds like there might be some, uh, lingering resentment over the whole “purging of healers and unapproved magic users” thing, so I’m thinking revenge might be a motivator.

I mean, the purge is still ongoing when you think about it. I don’t think those wizard cops from earlier would’ve hesitated to take action if they saw this person mixing their blood with ink to enhance its effects. Not sure what they can do against someone who can teleport like that, but maybe they have a plan.

Wasn’t the point that Eyeball could mess with Coco’s ink anytime they wanted?

Right, but why mess with Coco’s ink in the first place? Why are they so fixated on messing with Coco? Hopefully we find out in the future.