kristensk: Gosalyn from Darkwing Duck (Keen Gear)
[personal profile] kristensk
Wow, the spring anime season was good. I watched three series, one I'd been anticipating and two that weren't even on my radar.

First, "Kaiju No. 8". I've been following the manga since it started, and it's a great, fun series with a likeable cast. The anime adds to it some truly awesome action animation and great music. Plus, watching the story's beginning has reminded me how I was hooked in at the start. It's a fantastic show, and I'm happy a second season has already been announced.

Then, there's the shows that I picked up by chance, "Tonari no Yokai-san" and "Wind Breaker".

I thought "Tonari no Yokai-san" was going to be my relaxing show. Just a gentle, Miyazaki-esque drama about a little village where humans and youkai or other supernatural beings live in relative harmony. Plus the bonus of getting to explore such a charming world through the eyes of Buchio, a former housecat who, as he was dying of old age, wanted to stay with his loving family so badly he transformed into a nekomata, a two-tailed youkai cat with shape-changing powers. The show was so much more than I expected. Yes, Buchio was adorable and my favorite character. But, beyond that... Firstly, it's not just the one village - it's an entire world where humans and the supernatural co-exist. We get to see beyond Japan with a brief trip to England, and there's even a (real world style, not sci-fi) space station crewed by humans and other beings. Secondly, well, I won't spoil it. But, the show went places I didn't expect, brought me to tears, and resolved just as it should. (And, no, I don't expect more of this one. It's apparently adapted from a manga that only has four volumes.)

Then, there's the season's surprise favorite, "Wind Breaker". I don't-- How did this happen?! I was promised some great fight animation, so I went in for what I thought would be one episode of an otherwise uninteresting delinquent show. I mean, there weren't even any superpowers! Yet, somehow, I watched and loved the entire season. The animation is stunning with full-bodied fights executed in-camera and each character given a unique fighting style. But, it's so much more than that. The cast is great, each introduced character instantly standing out and almost all of the Bofurin crew having some charm. The lead, Sakura, is especially endearing. Granted, it helps that he reminded me heavily of early Rin from "Blue Exorcist" ;) ...Though he's definitely more of a classic tsundere with that instant blush of his whenever anyone is kind to him. It was a joy to watch his character grow across just thirteen episodes, and I can't wait for the already announced season two!

Date: 2024-07-12 02:23 pm (UTC)
vriddy: Hawks peace sign (peace sign)
From: [personal profile] vriddy
I was browsing the Latest Things page and got so excited to see a random Wind Breaker mention in the wild!!! :D (I really need to find or make myself a Wind Breaker icon haha). This show has been such a lovely, delightful surprise this season and I ended up reading every volume of the manga I could get my hands onto afterwards. Sakura, and just about every character really, are so endearing. I'm so happy a season 2 is confirmed because I've been LOVING the animated fights! Or just some of the "camera" choices like when Sakura walks in that last episode. So good.

A couple of friends recced Kaiju No.8 to me as well, I'll have to give the anime a shot when I have time to settle down with it... probably a fair amount of time since I've heard many episodes end in cliffhangers 😂

Date: 2024-07-27 02:54 pm (UTC)
vriddy: Sakura from Wind Breaker pointing at himself (me?)
From: [personal profile] vriddy
Haha, no worries, I love the pace that Dreamwidth offers with regard to replying whenever :)

[community profile] malagraphic has been posting a bunch of delightful Wind Breaker icons, if you'd like to look through them! There are so many good ones 😍 I'm struggling to narrow it down to a few, haha... orz

I hope you enjoy the Wind Breaker manga as well if/when you get to it :D

Date: 2024-07-15 06:43 am (UTC)
jordannamorgan: Klaus Von Reinherz, "Blood Blockade Battlefront". (Klaus Kill)
From: [personal profile] jordannamorgan
I was not expecting "Wind Breaker" to essentially end on a cliffhanger. Season two can't come soon enough. :D It'll take a lot to knock this show from my Anime of the Year spot for 2024. ...And besides Sakura being absolutely precious, I think I might just be an Umemiya fangirl now. *g* I don't think I've *ever* seen a series deliver a better payoff on the concept of an outward lighthearted doofus who somehow proves to be the wisest, kindest, most dedicated and charismatic leader imaginable. (Someone please let me trade my assistant manager at work for him. *snarf*)

As for "Kaiju No. 8", besides the climax of the dub getting disrupted for two weeks by Failureroll's bad scheduling choices, I have to say it suffered from the exact same problem as "Solo Leveling". After a whole season of excruciatingly slow buildup, it only just felt like it was finally getting to something *really* good when it ended. I wonder if this could have anything to do with companies drawing things out more to avoid outpacing a show's source manga. Not that I object to generating more content for good shows... but I do like anime to be able to get to the point a little more briskly. (Maybe because so many of my favorites have been one-cour wonders that only had 12-13 episodes to deliver every bit of their impact.)

(Unfortunately, the third series you mentioned was not dubbed. Par for the course, as the summer schedule yet again continues Failureroll's pattern of prioritizing isekai and generic fantasy for dubs over almost anything with truly original ideas. *sigh*)

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