The Anime Thread

[Henri]

This may come as a shock to many of you, especially in a place such as this, but I actually enjoy watching anime on rare occasion, but often times when I finish a series there's nowhere to really discuss it that isn't swarmed with pozzed retards and worse yet I'm usually not sure what to watch next unless I accidently stumble onto something. I've tried looking up suggestions online but I've found that usually things that are recommended fall within the very mainstream series selection and most of the time the recommendation is based on the loosest of ties, in that instead of recommending something with a similar tone and theme, they'll throw something that has a superficial connection. I've also just found that some movies and shows I never really watched before to be enjoyable today as they offer some fun escapism and concepts you don't see in other media.

I figured why not try making a thread on here, as a place to talk about anime and provide recommendations. If there's discussion I'll also keep a log of links to effort posts that recommend a series in the opening here. For an effort post I'd say it should follow something resembling the following but feel free to change it up, and more than one person can make an effort post about a show as it would be good to see different perspectives:

Name of the Series.
Genre.
Is a Dub Available?
General review, as in what made it stand out in your opinion or why should someone else bother watching it.
What other shows is it comparable to? (Might be good to specify in terms of visually, story, and tone as each of those can be distinct)

Anyway, anyone watch the new Cyberpunk Edgerunner series?

Edit: Updating with effort post links, if more than one effort post exists I'll just link each as [1 user, 2 user, n user] style to let people get multiple opinions. If I missed your post just yell at me or something I'll add it:

Spoiler: CGDCT Shows

Healer Girl (Musical as well)
Lycoris Recoil (Action)

Spoiler: Iseaki Shows

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (Action & Edge, Highly Recommended by user)

Spoiler: Mecha Shows

OBSOLETE (Realistic Robots)
Valvrave the Liberator (Lunacy)

 

[Trap Supremacy]

I've been falling behind a bit on anime this season, mainly because of general burnout combined with vtubers taking up all the time I would use to watch anime. That being said, here's an obscure show that I'd highly recommend from this year:

Spoiler: Healer Girl

Genre: CGDCT, musical (as in, original songs every episode)
Dub: No
Synopsis/review: This show is one that kind of caught me off guard this spring. I saw the synopsis, and thought "oh, this is interesting" and left it on my to-watch list. Little did I know it would end up having me crying more than once.

The story is about three girls training to be "healers", sort-of magical girls who conduct healing procedures using the power of music, under the direction of a master of the craft. It follows a general CGDCT formula. One girl, Kana Fujii, is the usual neer-do-well baka protagonist who wants to be a healer because of one who helped her when she was younger. Reimi Itsushiro is a spoiled rich girl who's a bit stuck-up, a perfectionist, and also has a girl-crush on the teacher. And Hibiki Morishima is a country bumpkin who turned out to have amazing singing skills, which is why she came to the big city to learn how to be a healer.

In spite of its characters who are somewhat the "usual types", I think it ends up being a lot more than that. Every episode, outside of a few special ones, involves them having to try and heal a different person with different symptoms, sort of like a medical drama. We get to see the backstory behind these people, the connections they form with the protagonists, and we get to hear the songs for healing them as well. It taps into a niche I feel like no other show has done before.

The songs, by the way, are amazing - usually you'd expect the kind of generic idol songs that these shows tend to have, but they actually follow a much more traditional style, sounding closer to modern choral pieces at times and at others being reminiscent of classical-era pieces. Something clever the director decided was to hire people who have singing experience first (instead of hiring people with mainly voice acting experience) to do the voice acting, meaning the singing itself is done by professionals, and it shows. The harmonies are amazing, the instrumentation is phenomenal, I just can't rave about it enough.

Similar shows: Well, the studio and director behind it (3Hz/Yasuhiro Irie) were behind Flip Flappers, so that should give you a general idea of what it's like. Some other shows I'd compare it to are Love Live, Idolm@ster, Symphogear, and Revue Starlight, although it's a bit more emotional and personal than Love Live or Idolm@ster and much more down-to-earth compared to Symphogear or Revue Starlight. Basically, if you enjoy shows with an element of "musical" to them, you'll probably enjoy this one a lot.

Overall, me being a music nerd and a sucker for emotional stories, it appealed to me a lot and left me feeling really fulfilled. If you think it'd appeal to you as well, definitely go check it out. Solid 9/10.

On a separate note, think we could have this thread include manga as well? There's a lot of stuff I'd like to discuss on that front that's too obscure to discuss or share elsewhere as well.

 

[Henri]

On a separate note, think we could have this thread include manga as well?

I think that might be a good separate thread. It's something I thought about at the time of making this thread and the problem is on other sites which have one universal thread or board for both there's a lot cross discussion with spoilers to ongoing shows/series that have a manga that's ahead of the show. It also makes it harder to follow as when the manga and anime diverge it gets messy as people discuss it.

Though if the other people on here think it's better to just have one thread for both, I'm not opposed to it either outside of book keeping reasons as anime can have multiple remakes for one series such as Hellsing does.

 

[Trap Supremacy]

I think that might be a good separate thread. It's something I thought about at the time of making this thread and the problem is on other sites which have one universal thread or board for both there's a lot cross discussion with spoilers to ongoing shows/series that have a manga that's ahead of the show. It also makes it harder to follow as when the manga and anime diverge it gets messy as people discuss it.

Though if the other people on here think it's better to just have one thread for both, I'm not opposed to it either outside of book keeping reasons as anime can have multiple remakes for one series such as Hellsing does.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

Just finished Cyberpunk. Heck of a show. Gotta admit, TRIGGER can really do amazing work if they have somebody keeping them on a leash. Hope the success of this teaches them the value of more nuanced writing/character development.

 

[agility_]

Anime was a mistake.

 

[Henri]

Just finished Cyberpunk. Heck of a show. Gotta admit, TRIGGER can really do amazing work if they have somebody keeping them on a leash. Hope the success of this teaches them the value of more nuanced writing/character development.

It's definitely a show I liked and I think it's great visually and has a solid story, but I'm not sure if it's something that will be remembered long term as it has some issues that stood out to me. Nothing major but a lot of small things, and the story is rather barebones compared to other shows similar to it, which is why it's probably been on my mind as it's a very good show of potential for what the creators of it can do in the future and the world they created.

 

[The Proctor]

I'm looking forwards to watching Made in Abyss S2.

Well, I'm not. I'm not looking forwards to it at all. But I will still watch it.

I really can't explain why I like Made in Abyss. It's a fucking creepy story written by somebody who is very obviously messed up in the head, but it somehow... works. I can't describe why it feels so bizarrely 'real' to me. Even the horrific, nightmarish, pseudo-fetish parts of it have this weird way of making me feel like something profound happened.

My very first serious, non-dubbed anime ever was Madoka Magica. Prior to that I hated anime and bought into all the stupid memes about it from people who'd also never watched any of it. I would never have touched it if a critic I didn't immensely respect at the time covered it and gave it a glowing review. It was a remarkably visceral experience that I'll never forget, and Made in Abyss feels a lot like it. It could so easily be cheap pedobait. It could so easily be meaningless loli guro with pretty backdrops. But it somehow isn't. I don't know why. I don't think I ever will.

I just want to know what the fuck is at the bottom of the Abyss it's pippa

 

[Faceless Waifu]

I barely followed animu stuff as of recently, but I managed to follow one of the current year's lineup, Lycoris Recoil

Spoiler: Lycoris Recoil stuff

Lycoris Recoil
13 episode original series
Genre: CGDCT except it has combat and more or less a bit of a spy fiction-ish? "Cute Combat Girls Doing Cute Things" aka CCGDCT? Iunno
Dub: There is English dub but Subs all the way (but I heard the dub is okay-ish)
Review:
Lycoris Recoil is kind of like... I don't know. If you know or have watched Gunslinger Girls then it has that similar vibe. It's an original work about Japan who after some terrorism stuff that wrecked one of their tower in the past (The Skytree Tower), has decided to set up this network of what is essentially highschool-aged secret police to keep Japan peaceful and remove any "threat" that would ruin such peace. Of course the whole thing isn't really about them and instead focused on two of these hitwomans, a notable trainee by the name of Takina Inoue whose serious, cold and has this whole "finish the job first, life second" mindset who after botching her task with the agency that employed her, finds herself being assigned (exiled, in a lack of better terms) with Chisato Nishikigi, who is basically the ace of the entire agency but is also a perky, cheerful pile of fun who, despite being tasked to eliminate threats lethally, decided to basically to go play Pacifist route and pissed everyone in that agency or tolerate her enough to not let her go because her skills is that invaluable. There are plenty of interesting cast, ranging from your atypical jerk rival to your stock small-sized super-hacker, up until characters like Chisato's handler who is like, a not-stereotypically played black foreign man and the antagonist being a terrorist that is like, demanding "THE BALANCE" while casually totting PKM machine gun while wearing gaudy hawaii shirt + leather coat and have a joker green hairdo.

The series plot itself basically 75% Chisato trying to get Takina to lighten-up and it's what makes the series quite interesting to many people (and so the shippers), because their relationship being a complete split-opposite that of course, as the series progressed, has basically becoming so close that they could be inseparable. The other 25% is reserved on actual hard plot about a terrorist trying to concoct a plan that was already set on the first episode, along with other heavy plot related to Chisato's past and the matter on how the whole "Japan Secret Police clearing Threats" worked behind the scene.

It's quite interesting as a theme, being essentially trying to combine Slice of Life with Spy-Fiction (or gunplay focused action animu), but I kind of wished that it stayed fully as SOL and keep the combat and heavy plot aspect at the minimum. While it is still enjoyable to its own, I kinda felt it would work better if they just like, putting a plot about these two balancing the life of being friendly to each other/one learning from the other while also dealing with all sort of threat to the country instead of focusing on a single plot villain.

Without going into too much spoilers, though, the plot at the end is just a bit... average-ish. I can understand the plot terrorist motivation against the system but at the same time, the one involving Chisato's past is just a bit... reaching. I understand that they want to explain the whole reason why she went pacifist to begin with, but the whole entire plot of what is essentially them tried to make her use live round and not being pacifist is just, whack. Interesting, but whack. I do have this assumption that the whole Chisato's past bit is just something on the side while the terrorist whole plot is the main attraction, but it meshes together as if both was planned at the same time. Still though, the plot in the end does lead to a rather open closure, which would make for an easy 2nd season if there's a need for it.

All in all, it's enjoyable. But for those who wishes for it to have more slice of life element like me, it's probably best to just enjoy the fans drawing the two doing cute things instead. Nevertheless, it has really great combat scene involving gun-play, especially with Chisato's "ace ability" (aka dodging bullets in real time) makes her nickname as "Animu John Wick" well deserved (especially because her being pacifist/using non-lethal rounds and thus she had to compensate with inaccurate non-lethal bullets and all). It's also a original series so you can easily jump into it without any prior knowledge, and Chisato's act is just so damn fun to watch, especially when having Takina acting as the straight-man before she too ended up start loosing herself and becoming just as open to Chisato... to some degree of success.

I give it an 8/10 as a whole, but for me personally it's 7,5/10 because of my desire of the series having more SOL element, along with some few nitpicks on my part regarding the world background and lore of it. It might be cheery and cutesy, but it's still an action series, so you might have to keep that in mind if you want to recommend it to other weebs (assuming they hadn't watch it, considering the popularity recently). The Yuri-bait is quite clear though, even if there's nothing that is pretty unsubtle. I still see the main duo as close friends, but who knows if the series decided to make the two an item or whatever.

Similar Shows: The closest thing would be Gunslinger Girls, but you can put any anime about contrasting personality-based duos and it could work. Probably.

Aside of that, I have watched Cyberpunk Edgerunners and all I can say is the same like others about it. It's great show and what I really liked is that it is able to capture everything from Cyberpunk 2077 and make it into a anime set before its plot started. It's nice being able to recognize bits and pieces you remembered from the game that isn't certain locations and street within Edgerunners. My only complain is mostly about the english dub voice actors having issues trying to fake lag calls which isn't present in the sub. At the same time, the sub lacks the slangs from the game, which is rather... weird considering english dub has it (and makes it legit better if you are deep into Cyberpunk lore).

Still, I can say that Rebecca seiyuu/voice actor, both in sub and dub, nails it pretty fucking well portraying her. No wonder the internet loves the crazy gun-maniac woman. (But Lucy though...)

 

[yuckyyaki]

I find that I can't keep up with modern anime anymore so I mainly read manga and watch older shows, my most recent pick was the og iDOLM@STER.
It's really weird how even though it's filled to the brim with tropes it still manages to feel different and not in your face. I'm only about halfway through and there have been some episodes where they suprised me with their subject matter and the things they handled, one in particular where one of the idols is struggling with anxiety and they managed to avoid both hand-waving and going all "woe is me", which is rare especially these days.
I'm enjoying the show so far, it's definitely better than the last couple anime i've watched... Yofukashi no Uta was a let down.

 

[Henri]

I'm looking forwards to watching Made in Abyss S2.

Well, I'm not. I'm not looking forwards to it at all. But I will still watch it.

I really can't explain why I like Made in Abyss. It's a fucking creepy story written by somebody who is very obviously messed up in the head, but it somehow... works. I can't describe why it feels so bizarrely 'real' to me. Even the horrific, nightmarish, pseudo-fetish parts of it have this weird way of making me feel like something profound happened.

My very first serious, non-dubbed anime ever was Madoka Magica. Prior to that I hated anime and bought into all the stupid memes about it from people who'd also never watched any of it. I would never have touched it if a critic I didn't immensely respect at the time covered it and gave it a glowing review. It was a remarkably visceral experience that I'll never forget, and Made in Abyss feels a lot like it. It could so easily be cheap pedobait. It could so easily be meaningless loli guro with pretty backdrops. But it somehow isn't. I don't know why. I don't think I ever will.

I just want to know what the fuck is at the bottom of the Abyss it's pippa

I actually avoided Made in the Abyss for a while because of what I heard about it, but I think some of the accusations are overblown. Though it does a great job of using its cartoony look to really swing the tone from light hearted to horrifying rapidly which adds a lot to it, and it sets up a lot of mystery plot points that I'm interested to see the conclusion of.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Re:Zero, it has that same element of making things feel relaxed before pulling the rug out from under you, and it has a lot of what made Madoka and Made in the Abyss thrilling. Though Re:Zero season 2 stumbles a lot in comparison to Season 1.

Though for season 2 of Made in the Abyss, is that the one with city in the name and doe you need to watch the movie before it?

Aside of that, I have watched Cyberpunk Edgerunners and all I can say is the same like others about it. It's great show and what I really liked is that it is able to capture everything from Cyberpunk 2077 and make it into a anime set before its plot started. It's nice being able to recognize bits and pieces you remembered from the game that isn't certain locations and street within Edgerunners. My only complain is mostly about the english dub voice actors having issues trying to fake lag calls which isn't present in the sub. At the same time, the sub lacks the slangs from the game, which is rather... weird considering english dub has it (and makes it legit better if you are deep into Cyberpunk lore).

Still, I can say that Rebecca seiyuu/voice actor, both in sub and dub, nails it pretty fucking well portraying her. No wonder the internet loves the crazy gun-maniac woman. (But Lucy though...)

Rebecca really grew on me as a character, but Lucy seemed more like a set piece than anything.

Though I have a question as someone who hasn't played the game, and spoilers because it involves the entire ending of the show:

Spoiler: Cyberpunk anime spoilers, do not open

Do you think they'll eventually do a season 2? From what I understand Keanu in the games is dead and it's just his mind uploaded to the character you play as, and in the ending of the anime the main dude shows up in the memory of Lucy, which makes me think they might have given themselves an out if they wanted to bring back that story.

Though really I'd like to see more of the world, probably through the eyes of a different cast.

 

[thequ1eteye]

Time for a somewhat effort posting.

Grimgar of fantasy and ash.

Is a Dub Available? Yes

Imagine if you suddenly appeared in a fantasy world without any memories and are just told you are adventurers, out of the blue.
Welcome to Grimgar, a high fantasy world where they summon people form other worlds and just let them sink and swim while dealing with goblins and other such creatures, and the hoodlums that was summoned from you generation gets promoted way before you feel comfortable killing other creatures.

As an Iseaki fag I often keep up with the isekais of every season, but this one is one of the few I got invested in to buy the light novels off, just because of the premise.
The characters get traumas by killing goblins, and the transformation can be seen, from killing up close and still being disturbed by it, companions killed, and other similar things.
----------
Comparable shows? Maybe goblin slayer but the deaths doesnt punch as hard and it feels more like a hardened adventure party.

The more comparable is maybe, funnily enough, I was reincarnated as a slime, with the side characters getting summoned and forced to try to slay or obey demon lords.
------------------------

Hope you find this show as entertaining as me.

 

[Nenélove]

Time for a somewhat effort posting.

Grimgar of fantasy and ash.

Is a Dub Available? Yes

Imagine if you suddenly appeared in a fantasy world without any memories and are just told you are adventurers, out of the blue.
Welcome to Grimgar, a high fantasy world where they summon people form other worlds and just let them sink and swim while dealing with goblins and other such creatures, and the hoodlums that was summoned from you generation gets promoted way before you feel comfortable killing other creatures.

As an Iseaki fag I often keep up with the isekais of every season, but this one is one of the few I got invested in to buy the light novels off, just because of the premise.
The characters get traumas by killing goblins, and the transformation can be seen, from killing up close and still being disturbed by it, companions killed, and other similar things.
----------
Comparable shows? Maybe goblin slayer but the deaths doesnt punch as hard and it feels more like a hardened adventure party.

The more comparable is maybe, funnily enough, I was reincarnated as a slime, with the side characters getting summoned and forced to try to slay or obey demon lords.
------------------------

Hope you find this show as entertaining as me.

Im also an isekai fag and i can vouch for grimgar, when it comes to isekai, which tend to be the shittiest, most trope heavy sludge you will ever come across, grimgar does a good job of subverting expectations, making characters more complex than just a stupid trope and feeling very "real", the anime also has this very nice slow pace to it while not feeling boring. Goblin slayer is really a slice of life (which means it never goes anywhere and all of the characters stay the same forever) and Slime is a lot more focused on power-leveling and using its spectacle to make up for its flat characters and linear story.

Even then i do have some misgivings about grimgar (warning spoilers for the anime and LN ahead):
For one, while most of the supporting cast is great and have realistic and relatable personalities, the mc kinda sucks (what a shocker), while i think the author meant to make haruhiro struggle and have this emotional conflict with dealing with grief and his leadership position he just comes off as incredibly passive, indecisive and has a very vanilla personality which is fine after Manato's death, but the problem is that he never moves forward from that point...

While the anime cuts off at a point where the story is still pretty concise and good, reading the LN makes it very clear that the author had little to no idea what he actually wanted from it. There is no real goal or motivation after the cyrene mine arc, it's just "let's get stronger and out of poverty" but it never goes anywhere. The author seems to have peaked after killing off Manato and he continues to kill off a couple more characters, one of which came out of nowhere and we didn't even have time to emotionally connect to so what was the point...? The story then spirals into some strange places which while unique just make it feel that much more aimless, after that i didn't really have the will to keep reading.

The best isekai for my money is Mushoku Tensei and i will fucking fight anyone on that hill.

 

[Thomas Talus]

Grimgar is a good show, especially the backgrounds.

I don't think I can buy Gunslinger Girls as similar to Lycoris Recoil on any level other then "schoolgirls as assassins working for a gov't agency of dubious legality." LR is overall a light and positive show. GSG has the ever-present specter of the drug's corrosive effects on the girls' memories and bodies hovering over it, and Treila being the only one with a remotely healthy relationship with her handler. LR is about self-actualization, while GSG is about trying to cobble together some happiness in a brutal world where you only have a few years to live.

 

[That Guy Over There]

I may sperg out about anime some other time, however I felt a need to post about the greatest thing about anime.....

Spoiler: Shitposts

 

[Faceless Waifu]

Rebecca really grew on me as a character, but Lucy seemed more like a set piece than anything.

Though I have a question as someone who hasn't played the game, and spoilers because it involves the entire ending of the show:

Spoiler: Cyberpunk anime spoilers, do not open

Do you think they'll eventually do a season 2? From what I understand Keanu in the games is dead and it's just his mind uploaded to the character you play as, and in the ending of the anime the main dude shows up in the memory of Lucy, which makes me think they might have given themselves an out if they wanted to bring back that story.

Though really I'd like to see more of the world, probably through the eyes of a different cast.

I mostly liked Lucy because of her being hot and all, and Rebecca as much as the internet loves her kinda looks too iffy for me. But I do feel like Lucy is relatable story-wise and at the very least managed to find some peace in the end.

As for the spoiler, I don't play the game as well but I do followed the lore and plot of it so this might be wrong, but still:

Spoiler: Cyberpunk Anime and probably Cyberpunk 2077 spoiler. Opening it might spoils you.

They could make a season 2, but they would have to make an entirely new characters and plots just like you said. Also it is pretty much said that David's appearances on the Moon in front of Lucy is just her remembering him (not like keanu and how he's inside the game character's head) and realizes that yes, he sacrificed himself for her and she made it out there. The In-game DLC does mentioned that the surviving member, Falco told the game protagonist V that they're basically done and decided to move away from their "15 minutes of fame" and lay low, while also giving David's jacket and telling V to keep going with his/her journey within the game.

I did remember reading somewhere between the lore-breadcrumb that the corpos like Arasaka in-game are also vying for the Moon, and assuming they go with that plot, the new season could bring Lucy again as side character or someone the "entirely new casts" could met. Maybe showcased how she's doing post-Edgerunners, whether she decided to left everything behind and lay low as best as she could to honor David's sacrifice for her while basically on the run back on earth due to Arasaka getting her trail on the moon or keep going as netrunner like before and having some sort of death seeking-attitude because of her loss and felt like the moon is just... nothing without him. Or they could cut the chase and be like "ah yeah she's ded."

It's a possibility, really.

 

[Jacks Wasted Life]

Aside of that, I have watched Cyberpunk Edgerunners and all I can say is the same like others about it. It's great show and what I really liked is that it is able to capture everything from Cyberpunk 2077 and make it into a anime set before its plot started. It's nice being able to recognize bits and pieces you remembered from the game that isn't certain locations and street within Edgerunners. My only complain is mostly about the english dub voice actors having issues trying to fake lag calls which isn't present in the sub. At the same time, the sub lacks the slangs from the game, which is rather... weird considering english dub has it (and makes it legit better if you are deep into Cyberpunk lore).

I think it went downhill after episode 6. Still enjoyable but as some one who never played the game it has problems as a stand alone.

Spoiler

So what was David's motivation? Everyone keeps telling him to back off the enhancments, and slow down, but he doesn't. Even when he knows hes going insane. Does he really want to send Lucy to the moon and needs the cash? No, they remark in show how cheap a ticket is. Is he greedy and wants money or more power? He never shows a desire for either. He doesn't need to keep enhancing to keep the crew together, or stop some immediate threat to them. (short of final episode) He's seen what happened to his mentor, and yet falls down the same end for no reason that was explained.

Also, that last fight was bullshit. Good job on subverting expectations I suppose, but having some guy who was mentioned once, who we also don't know his motivations, crush him effortlessly, was anti-climactic.

I actually avoided Made in the Abyss for a while because of what I heard about it, but I think some of the accusations are overblown. Though it does a great job of using its cartoony look to really swing the tone from light hearted to horrifying rapidly which adds a lot to it, and it sets up a lot of mystery plot points that I'm interested to see the conclusion of.

Wait until you watch the movie and see how she gets her white whistle. Smile and optimisim gone.

 

[Henri]

I mostly liked Lucy because of her being hot and all, and Rebecca as much as the internet loves her kinda looks too iffy for me. But I do feel like Lucy is relatable story-wise and at the very least managed to find some peace in the end.

As for the spoiler, I don't play the game as well but I do followed the lore and plot of it so this might be wrong, but still:

Spoiler: Cyberpunk Anime and probably Cyberpunk 2077 spoiler. Opening it might spoils you.

They could make a season 2, but they would have to make an entirely new characters and plots just like you said. Also it is pretty much said that David's appearances on the Moon in front of Lucy is just her remembering him (not like keanu and how he's inside the game character's head) and realizes that yes, he sacrificed himself for her and she made it out there. The In-game DLC does mentioned that the surviving member, Falco told the game protagonist V that they're basically done and decided to move away from their "15 minutes of fame" and lay low, while also giving David's jacket and telling V to keep going with his/her journey within the game.

I did remember reading somewhere between the lore-breadcrumb that the corpos like Arasaka in-game are also vying for the Moon, and assuming they go with that plot, the new season could bring Lucy again as side character or someone the "entirely new casts" could met. Maybe showcased how she's doing post-Edgerunners, whether she decided to left everything behind and lay low as best as she could to honor David's sacrifice for her while basically on the run back on earth due to Arasaka getting her trail on the moon or keep going as netrunner like before and having some sort of death seeking-attitude because of her loss and felt like the moon is just... nothing without him. Or they could cut the chase and be like "ah yeah she's ded."

It's a possibility, really.

I don't hate Lucy, I just think they gave her the most backstory but also didn't really develop her as a character compared to others. As for Rebecca I found her really unlikeable when they first introduced her but she ended up getting better.

I think there are a few things that bother me about the show that I wanted to express

Spoiler: Cyber Punk anime spoilers

I think my biggest qualm with the show was that it was a lot of cool concepts and a serviceable story, but didn't really come together to make something more. Thinking about Lucy now is what kind of made me realize it, in that she has a really interesting back story but then her character is basically an object for plot points, as she's either lounging around the house because of what she saw in Tanaka's head or a vegetable because of Faraday. Meanwhile other characters get more development in less direct ways with how Rebecca goes from being annoyingly lewd to actually showing care and interest in others, and we learn about Kiwi's true nature, as well as Western Man's personality.

The other things that bothered me was that they had the same problem Full Metal Jacket did where it's two shows or movies stapled together and it changes so much at the halfway point that it would have been better as an anthology of stories instead of one big story that resulted in shallow characters like David or Rebecca's brother who I figured was obviously the annoying black friend from the D&D movie who dies first.

I also just didn't get the whole Next Tech and Trauma Team, they're made out to be a real threat but every time they go up against the main crew they just turn into swarm goons. I get they're supposed to be a swat team analogy so they're not super soldiers but if Main can just cut them down as easily as he did and he could have realistically escaped if his brain didn't fry, they're just not a threat. Yes, some random terrorist can take out a couple swat team members but it shouldn't be such a difference that the swat team is outgunned in every way with tech that's widely available. Either make them a real threat or don't play them up as much of a threat.

And finally some of the tone was just weird, specifically Rebecca's death. The idea is that it's a light moment punctuated by shock, but it didn't really land for me and I felt like that was something that happened too often. Another example being Adam Smasher saying something like "you can't even stand without the gravity assist" which doesn't make sense because that's not something he can just train, that's just a design choice of the tech, so it comes off as a bit stupid from an otherwise very stern character.

But really, I still liked the show and setting, I just felt annoyed by that stuff and needed to get it out there. I feel like if they tightened up the writing they could make another series in the setting that's great and Lucy would make a solid Cowboy Bebop style character that is numbed by her past around others. I'll give them credit for the ending as well because they went with a very somber one that isn't very common as usually in these shows the good and bad guy kill one another instead of it just being so one sided, though maybe Faraday was intended to be that.

I hope they do go with a second season or series though and explore some of the corpos and such more.

Wait until you watch the movie and see how she gets her white whistle. Smile and optimisim gone.

See, now I'm afraid to watch it as I can handle the body horror but I really don't want to know what weird pedo shit they might pull.

 

[Faceless Waifu]

I think there are a few things that bother me about the show that I wanted to express

Spoiler: Cyber Punk anime spoilers

I also just didn't get the whole Next Tech and Trauma Team, they're made out to be a real threat but every time they go up against the main crew they just turn into swarm goons. I get they're supposed to be a swat team analogy so they're not super soldiers but if Main can just cut them down as easily as he did and he could have realistically escaped if his brain didn't fry, they're just not a threat. Yes, some random terrorist can take out a couple swat team members but it shouldn't be such a difference that the swat team is outgunned in every way with tech that's widely available. Either make them a real threat or don't play them up as much of a threat.

Spoiler

"Next Tech" or MaxTac does appear to be very effective in their job (considering that in-universe they are basically reformed cyberpyschos employed by the police as "fight fire with fire" solution), but even they probably can't survive within a huge explosion that Maine caused. Plus they only appears on like, two episodes and one of them does showcased their effectiveness against a cyberpyscho that provided David with the sandevistan that started the whole mess to begin with. Maine basically blindsided them by going kaboom.

Trauma Team, on the hand, is pretty much just PMC'd healthcare and don't exactly behaves like typical SWAT team. They are still normal flesh and blood without much implants and despite decked with high-tech stuff, is still PMC at heart. They're also committed to their motto of "patient first, the rest later" and as soon as the patient ded, they go "ITS NOT OUR BUSINESS ANYMORE, WE OUTTA HERE, SUCKA". So Maine ripping them to shred alongside the regular cops make sense, but it sounds weird if you didn't delve into the game lore to understand the sheer disparity.

I do agree that MaxTac needs more showtime because just like in-game, they basically like, didn't exist except from a teaser trailer ancient times ago, the intro screen, and also a sidequest that you could miss out entirely. They are effective, but its just that the show never really shows the need to send them against the cast except during Maine's cyberpsycho moment. By the time David went into same thing, the entire matter is handled by Arasaka alone up until the appearances of Adam Smasher.

 

[Henri]

Spoiler

"Next Tech" or MaxTac does appear to be very effective in their job (considering that in-universe they are basically reformed cyberpyschos employed by the police as "fight fire with fire" solution), but even they probably can't survive within a huge explosion that Maine caused. Plus they only appears on like, two episodes and one of them does showcased their effectiveness against a cyberpyscho that provided David with the sandevistan that started the whole mess to begin with. Maine basically blindsided them by going kaboom.

Trauma Team, on the hand, is pretty much just PMC'd healthcare and don't exactly behaves like typical SWAT team. They are still normal flesh and blood without much implants and despite decked with high-tech stuff, is still PMC at heart. They're also committed to their motto of "patient first, the rest later" and as soon as the patient ded, they go "ITS NOT OUR BUSINESS ANYMORE, WE OUTTA HERE, SUCKA". So Maine ripping them to shred alongside the regular cops make sense, but it sounds weird if you didn't delve into the game lore to understand the sheer disparity.

I do agree that MaxTac needs more showtime because just like in-game, they basically like, didn't exist except from a teaser trailer ancient times ago, the intro screen, and also a sidequest that you could miss out entirely. They are effective, but its just that the show never really shows the need to send them against the cast except during Maine's cyberpsycho moment. By the time David went into same thing, the entire matter is handled by Arasaka alone up until the appearances of Adam Smasher.

Spoiler: More Cyberpunk anime spoilers

Maybe I'm wrong about this one, but weren't the guys in the building who Maine and Overwatch Russian Woman were killing all MaxTac or were they just regular police? My issue wasn't the explosion, and I thought MaxTac was good in the opening scene but I thought they just got crushed by Maine in 10 on 2 combat, unless that wasn't them. I also didn't know they were reformed Cyberpsychos as they look very basic in nature. If they really are reformed cyberpsychos that could be a rather cool series to see how someone goes from that to a MaxTac guy, since the current series made cyberpsychos out to be so far gone that they didn't even have humanity left by the time they went postal.

What made me expect more from Trauma Team was when LiveLeaks guy was dying and they freaked out about Trauma Team coming, it made it seem like they were a much more armed PMC than they ended up being as when Faraday was dying they just sent over one tiny shuttle that blew up and nothing they had could really deal with anything as well as them not really having any way of bringing in backup.

 

[Kazuma]

I haven't really watched any new anime in the past couple years. I have heard that the Spy x Family anime is really good. I kinda want to watch that but I want to read the manga first before watching the anime because I'm mainly a manga guy so I prefer reading the manga first before watching the anime adaptation.