Television The Caf' Anime Thread

[Invictus]

Good calls with Shanks and Ulquiorra! When you say he went too far, are there any particular scenes/passages you are referring to?

I just love the depth of the character and the way he drip fed his genius to his brother and those he deemed a threat in the grand scheme.

Oh, I was referring to his entire persona, rather than particular scenes/passages. Itachi is no doubt a very admirable and noble and deep character, and had a lot going for him, which made him a real fan favorite even when he was apparently evil, but a lot of it was a bit too good to be true, and he would score really high on the Mary/Gary Sue scale, for reference. Typical traits include...

Spoiler: Trope Index

This is all Itachi for the most part, when you really think about it (same goes for someone like Minato)...a character that is designed by the writer to be excessively popular/noble/cool, and is shoved down the readers' throats. Even his Urban Dictionary description is so corny!

Plus, I really loathe Kishimoto's Reanimation Jutsu gimmick, outside of Orochimaru resurrecting the Kages vs. Sandaime as a one-off. Itachi should have died, and remained dead, after his final battle vs. Sasuke — his reanimated characterization was really poor, IMO. Same goes for Nagato...should have died, and remained dead, after his face-off vs Naruto.

So, is there a #1 for you, or more a tier you can't really put one character above others in?

The latter, it's impossible for me to select a clear-cut #1 for such a voluminous manga! I like Itachi, but also...

Spoiler

Nagato (in terms of power scaling, he should have been the peak and final villain of the story because of how compelling his motivations and how exotic his abilities were), Hashirama (really like his The Man, The Myth, The Legend God-of-Shinobi characterization — another character who shouldn't have been reanimated in Shippuden), Shikamaru (most well developed character of the entire manga, IMO — GOAT strategist and a genuine badass without excessive powers and hacks that plagued Shippuden), Kakashi (consistently good and likeable from start to finish), or even Jiraiya and Neji (another character whose potential wasn't fully explored because of Kishimoto's boner for the Uchihas).

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Haven't watched much anime, but I'd got for:

Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Mikasa Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

 

[Fortitude]

Oh, I was referring to his entire persona, rather than particular scenes/passages. Itachi is no doubt a very admirable and noble and deep character, and had a lot going for him, which made him a real fan favorite even when he was apparently evil, but a lot of it was a bit too good to be true, and he would score really high on the Mary/Gary Sue scale, for reference. Typical traits include...

Spoiler: Trope Index

This is all Itachi for the most part, when you really think about it (same goes for someone like Minato)...a character that is designed by the writer to be excessively popular/noble/cool, and is shoved down the readers' throats. Even his Urban Dictionary description is so corny!

Plus, I really loathe Kishimoto's Reanimation Jutsu gimmick, outside of Orochimaru resurrecting the Kages vs. Sandaime as a one-off. Itachi should have died, and remained dead, after his final battle vs. Sasuke — his reanimated characterization was really poor, IMO. Same goes for Nagato...should have died, and remained dead, after his face-off vs Naruto.

The latter, it's impossible for me to select a clear-cut #1 for such a voluminous manga! I like Itachi, but also...

Spoiler

Nagato (in terms of power scaling, he should have been the peak and final villain of the story because of how compelling his motivations and how exotic his abilities were), Hashirama (really like his The Man, The Myth, The Legend God-of-Shinobi characterization — another character who shouldn't have been reanimated in Shippuden), Shikamaru (most well developed character of the entire manga, IMO — GOAT strategist and a genuine badass without excessive powers and hacks that plagued Shippuden), Kakashi (consistently good and likeable from start to finish), or even Jiraiya and Neji (another character whose potential wasn't fully explored because of Kishimoto's boner for the Uchihas).

damn! Itachi the Mary Sue! I kinda see where you're coming from, but I felt people latched onto his coolness, rather than it supposedly being shoved down our throats - I think that honour goes more toward Sasuke . Itachi's detachment and ambiguity as good/bad dichotomy is only cleared some years after his introduction, so too the depths of both his overt actions and underlying intent (I particularly like how he really gets under the skin of the likes of Madara and Kakashi). I think people filled in the blanks with him and made him more virtuous by extension.

Spoiler

Regarding those you listed, it's a damn shame they killed off Neiji and did not further expand upon his character - I honestly thought there would be a spin-off where he'd get his own show, which was not to be.

Haha, actually I agree with your list of characters entirely there, although I do wish they'd expanded upon Orichimaru, as his story seemed to just stop dead in terms of exposition after a certain point.

With you also on the stupid power levels in the last arc of Shippuden. It did lose its way towards the end, which made it quite anti-climactic after the eon it took to reach its apex, plus all the filler along the way.

 

[Invictus]

Ooh, a Neji spin-off, now there's an idea — I'd definitely watch a more grounded story featuring characters like him, Haku, Kimimaro, even Sasori or Deidara to an extent (minus Ultimate Art) — since half the problem with Shippuden, IMO, was Oda straying from the roots in terms of scaling/limitations, and turning it into DBZ-esque chimaera!

 

[Cloud7]

New season of Attack on Titan has been great so far!

 

[syrian_scholes]

I like Itachi, too — well written for the most part, great personality of mystery throughout Naruto I, probably the most philosophically flawed character in the verse, the outstanding genius of the pre-NaruSasu generation (which set him apart like Minato in terms of sheer hype), and his past was truly heart-wrenching (which made him a very likable character from a sentimental standpoint) — but Kishimoto went too far with some of the Anime Jesus I <3 Sasu-kun representations, IMO, and that kinda ruined the character for me (whereas Ace was consistently good in One Piece). Still one of my favorites, but more in the general Nagato/Shikamaru/Hashirama/Kakashi tier of greatness, and not the standout #1.

Um...looking at that mini-list, Kishimoto is terrible with the development of kunoichi (and Oda/Toriyama/Kubo are really bad at developing good female characters, too). Yeah, shōnen manga are meant to be read by boys, but can they not develop even one truly great character of the opposite gender? You get the same tropes of well-endowed fan service characters like Tsunade/Matsumoto, low-confidence quasi-yandere like Hinata/Inoue and characters that had potential but weren't given the scope to shine on a frequent basis like Kushina/Robin. I'd like to read shōnen where they are as well written/developed or intriguing as Itachi/Shanks/Ulquiorra, please!

Nami started out great in One Piece up until the 2 years skip imo, her backstory is one of the better ones, so is Robins but then again she is thrown back and not given many chances to shine.

 

[Invictus]

Um, just stumbled upon this concept on DeviantArt — interested in finding out who the Caf's resident One Piece readers/watchers would select for their “crew”...

https://www.deviantart.com/strickplayer/journal/One-Piece-Crew-Tag-712741667

 

[syrian_scholes]

Any Detective Conan/Case Closed fans?

Also any new anime recommendations?

 

[celia]

I read the manga of Detective Conan and watched some of the early movies, but I have a lot to catch up, does it count? Well only 23 books and 9 (?) movies to catch up.

==

I watched a bit the remake of Fruits Basket, I don't know if I should go on, mostly because since I read the manga there is no surprise for me. And I miss so much the first Japanese voice of Tohru and some of the songs of the first anime. It was also quite uncomfortable for me to watch it and think the mangaka hates the first anime, which is one of my favorite anime.
The new one is quite faithful otherwise and probably good enough. I was surprised though to see that I don't like this Yuki.

Most of my anime intake lately was Pokémon thanks to Twitch (even if the airing of series 4, 5 and 6 was pure madness), the last episodes of XYZ were really good.

Card Captor Sakura Clear on the other hand was for me "nothing happens, let's bore to death the poor souls that are fans of Sakura, as long as there are pretty pics they will buy the goodies".

 

[syrian_scholes]

I read the manga of Detective Conan and watched some of the early movies, but I have a lot to catch up, does it count? Well only 23 books and 9 (?) movies to catch up.

==

I watched a bit the remake of Fruits Basket, I don't know if I should go on, mostly because since I read the manga there is no surprise for me. And I miss so much the first Japanese voice of Tohru and some of the songs of the first anime. It was also quite uncomfortable for me to watch it and think the mangaka hates the first anime, which is one of my favorite anime.
The new one is quite faithful otherwise and probably good enough. I was surprised though to see that I don't like this Yuki.

Most of my anime intake lately was Pokémon thanks to Twitch (even if the airing of series 4, 5 and 6 was pure madness), the last episodes of XYZ were really good.

Card Captor Sakura Clear on the other hand was for me pure "nothing happens, let's bore to death the poor souls that are fans of Sakura, as long as there are pretty pics they will buy the goodies".

Well the reason I'm bringing it up is they will reveal the Black Organization boss identity in the next 2 episodes(I read those chapters in the manga), I wanted to know people's thoughts on that.

 

[Ødegaard]

Um, just stumbled upon this concept on DeviantArt — interested in finding out who the Caf's resident One Piece readers/watchers would select for their “crew”...

https://www.deviantart.com/strickplayer/journal/One-Piece-Crew-Tag-712741667

Did this on my phone, so I'm all over the place with editing.

I'm assuming non-pirates like Megallan or Akainu are off the table. I also assume Aokoji isn't allowed. Can't remember if Shiki was a Yonko, but I'll just think of him as too op.

I'll go for a serious bunch of combat specialist, if possible my utility people will also have some use in fighting.

Combat: Katakuri (lookout) Marco (doctor), Zoro, Law (surgeon), Mihawk & Rayleigh.
Utility: Nami (navigator), Jinbei (helmsman), Caesar Clown (scientist), Robin (poneglyphs), Crackers (does all the work a normal crew would do) & Sanji (chef)

Combat:
Katakuri for future sight, Marco because he is op, Zoro mostly because his attitude is welcome & partnering him with Mihawk would give him a platform to rapidly power up on. Taking Mihawk is a no-brainer. Law has a seriously hax ability that can help take down big guns if needed while his room can help take out large portions of fodder, he also offers the group some movement when it's needed. On top of that there is the off-chance for eternal youth.
Rayleigh for his experience and help to teach the others who may not understand advanced haki.

Utility:
My role: Chef & captain, chef seems the easiest job on the ship, and I think it would be fun to experiment.
Devil-fruit: Rumble Rumble Fruit (Enel)

Nami seems to be a proper navigator, and her stern view on money is very welcome so we don't feck about too much or we go into the trap of being too kind to take rewards or gifts.
A fishman at the helm is just natural. I also need some swimmers in case something happens since I plan on having a devil-fruit.
Caesar as a scientist as he functions as a combat & science guy at the same time.
Franky for shipwright. Good attitude & knows the secrets to Pluton.
Robin is needed if you want to learn everything without just hearing it from Rayleigh.
I'm taking Cracker for the boring tasks as his soldiers can do a feckton of work without getting tired.
The last spot goes to Sanji, because I'd rather be the secondary chef/assistant than the main one.

 

[Invictus]

Nice, really like the detailed breakdown and rationale for picking all those crew-members @Ødegaard!

 

[Invictus]

Um, this crew is definitely going to be a lot weaker combat wise...somewhat comparable to the Straw Hats in terms of peak strength and potential.

Captain: Navigator with Hi Hi no Mi (translates to Day Day fruit). Basically, a logia which would grant the user Escanor's abilities from Nanatsu no Taizai — generic stuff like solar flare (similar to Tien from Dragon Ball), sun-powered projectiles, energy blasts, Cruel Sun...


Should be a decent match for Akainu's Magu Magu No Mi as well as the Mera Mera No Mi. Could this counter the Yami Yami no Mi, too, hmmm?

Combat...

• Beckman (Sniper and Commander 1): find him to be the most intriguing Yonko commander, and he's rumored to be a Haki master, too. Also supposed to be the most intelligent person from East Blue (ahead of Nami), so he should be able to help with strategic stuff.
• Law (Surgeon/Swordsman and Commander 2). Not much needs to be said, to be honest.
• Kuma (Helmsman and Commander 3): Instant teleportation with the Paw Paw Fruit and gets him out the Celestial Dragon slave-for-rent business.
• Reiju (Assassin): seems a decent fighter with the Raid Suit and can poison opponents (as well as detoxify crew-members).
• Kaku (Spy): Second strongest member of the CP9 and a Rokushiki master, so he should be a handful in a middle-tier combatant role.
  
• Robin (Archaeologist): Underrated fighter and the only person capable of deciphering poneglyphs.

Support...

• Lindbergh (Gadgetry expert/Pet): Not much is known about him but I really like his character design (and the possible Vegapunk connection)!
• Viola (Lookout): 360° and long range vision, and can read minds.
• Perona (Nurse): Her Horo Horo no Mi is soooo good...ghost powers and depression inducement should be handy for support purposes.
• Iceberg (Shipwright/Engineer/Architect extraordinaire).
• Cosette (Cook): Forgettable character but this is mostly just to get her out of the Vinsmoke family's clutches.
• Tama (Chibi kunoichi).

 

[syrian_scholes]

Just caught up with the OP manga, good progress in the last 15 chapters I like Wano so far

Spoiler

I hope the toad oil doesn't actually bring Tonyasu back to life somehow

 

[syrian_scholes]

Also apparently there's this hint

Spoiler

The color spread of chapter 784 shows Zoro sitting on a grave with 944 written on it so it could mean either him killing someone in 944 or being in a death match vs someone, I don't think he will die as some theories suggest.The color spread:

 

[Shane88]

Caught up with Attack on Titan. That show just gets better and better.

 

[el3mel]

Caught up with Attack on Titan. That show just gets better and better.

I was coming to this thread to say exactly the same thing. Weird coincidence.

I watched the 3 seasons bar the part 2 of the 3rd season in only a week I guess. I'll wait for the last 4 episodes of that second part to be aired to watch it fully.

Great action anime. 3rd season did a marvelous job in adding more depth to the world and character than it was in the previous 2 seasons. I thought during the first 2 seasons it's pretty fun action anime with great world but with dull characters, story and too many deaths for secondary character without putting any depth in them. 3rd season solved most of these and made the story far more engaged.

 

[Shane88]

Evangelion is released on Netflix today. Never watched it so I'll see what the fuss is about.

 

[Rasendori]

Kimetsu no Yaiba is now on episode 2 and the animation is amazing, I love the manga as well, probably one of my favorite title in Jump right now. Too bad One Punch Man season 2 have huge quality drop in the animation, such a stupid move by whoever in charge is to give season 2 to J.C Staff instead of sticking with Madhouse

The animation of Kimetsu no Yaiba is really good. I appreciate the humor the yellow hair has brought these couple past episodes. Still waiting for the story to get to another level. Is the manga ongoing?

 

[lawliet354]

The animation of Kimetsu no Yaiba is really good. I appreciate the humor the yellow hair has brought these couple past episodes. Still waiting for the story to get to another level. Is the manga ongoing?

Yes it's still ongoing, I believe it's already in the final arc though

 

[Shane88]

Evangelion is released on Netflix today. Never watched it so I'll see what the fuss is about.

Well that was a thoroughly miserable experience.

 

[el3mel]

Well that was a thoroughly miserable experience.

In good or bad way? Didn't watch it, btw.

 

[el3mel]

I finished the second part of season 3 of Attack on Titan few days ago.

Honestly if the season 4 is by anyway as strong as this one or even stronger this anime will go down in history as one of the best. Never though it will be that deep during first season and I'm not a manga reader.

 

[Shane88]

In good or bad way? Didn't watch it, btw.

Good, I suppose, not sure. It's interesting enough but it's so fecking bleak.

 

[el3mel]

Good, I suppose, not sure. It's interesting enough but it's so fecking bleak.

You mean it's atmosphere is kinda dark and depressing?

I might give it a try.

 

[Invictus]

Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!

 

[el3mel]

Watched Psycho Pass and finished it yesterday. Great show, a solid 8/10 imo. A Cyperpunk that's beautifully designed, a plot that makes you think and re-watch some dialogues again to comprehend them, a great villain with an actually solid point of view and a well relatable character, though I didn't like the female protagonist much till very late of the anime.

Not sure I'm going to watch season 2 though with most of the character I cared for being gone from the show. First season seems like a complete story on its own anyway.

 

[Rasendori]

Rank the straw hat pirates not strength wise, but rather how you like them as characters.

Spoiler: Rank straw hats in terms of who you like

Zoro > Luffy > Nami > Sanji >> Brook > Nico Robin > Usopp >>>> Chopper > Frankie

 

[Shane88]

They picked Armin instead of Erwin. It still annoys me.

 

[Invictus]

Spoiler: Straw Hats Ranking

( ˘ ³˘) Luffy >>>>> Zoro > Robin > Nami > Sanji > Jinbe > Frankie > Usopp = Chopper >>>>> Brook (#`皿´)

 

[syrian_scholes]

Rank the straw hat pirates not strength wise, but rather how you like them as characters.

Spoiler: Rank straw hats in terms of who you like

Zoro > Luffy > Nami > Sanji >> Brook > Nico Robin > Usopp >>>> Chopper > Frankie

Spoiler

Luffy>Zoro>Sanji>Chopper>Usopp>Jinbe>Robin>Nami>Brook

Tbf I love them all so much.

 

[Rasendori]

Wow, no love for the can I see your panties fella

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Coming back to my inner weeabo after a long time. Been binging 2017/2018 shows like Darling in the Franxx, Shield Hero, Tensei Slime, Goblin Slayer, Overlord.

Any interesting show this current season? Also hoping for the release of Code Geass R3 Blu-ray.

 

[Art]

Rank the straw hat pirates not strength wise, but rather how you like them as characters.

Spoiler: Rank straw hats in terms of who you like

Zoro > Luffy > Nami > Sanji >> Brook > Nico Robin > Usopp >>>> Chopper > Frankie

Spoiler: Straw Hat Rankings

Luffy > Zoro > Usopp > Nami >Jimbei> Sanji > Frankie > Chopper > Brook > Robin

 

[Art]

Also y'all hating on my boi Usopp.

Spoiler

Water 7 was all him with the merry/ confronting luffy which still remains some of the best moments as a crew and I have a feeling he's going to have a big role in Elbaf too with Yasopp/Shanks' crew.

 

[Rasendori]

Also y'all hating on my boi Usopp.

Spoiler

Water 7 was all him with the merry/ confronting luffy which still remains some of the best moments as a crew

Spoiler: spoiler

Usopp gained my respect from that confrontation. Yes, he doesn't have the bravado of Luffy, but equally, he's no dansel in distress, he's a man. Every man needs their ego pandered too. As you know, it's Zoro's ego that gravitates him to acknowledge any swordsman/swordswoman. It must've felt quite shameful for Usopp to look the Strawhats in the eyes knowing he was often passive. It's the sort of reflection many anime characters could use with, cough Orihime. I loved seeing Usopp on his knees, engulfed in tears as you can't undermine the captain's authority. I think Luffy could have humbled him further, by making him apologize personally to the Strawhats one by one, and have him doing errands for a week. Yes, Luffy encourages his crew to be honest with their feelings, but respect is paramount in a crew and Usopp greatly disrespected him.

 

[el3mel]

Anyone watching the currently airing Dr.Stone ? It's at episode 3 now, new episode every Friday.

The setting and world are great but so far I really, really don't like the characters at all, though I didn't read the manga. Hope they improve.

 

[Ødegaard]

Anyone watching the currently airing Dr.Stone ? It's at episode 3 now, new episode every Friday.

The setting and world are great but so far I really, really don't like the characters at all, though I didn't read the manga. Hope they improve.

Seems a bit slow.

 

[el3mel]

Seems a bit slow.

Well, it's only 3rd episode and I think it'll be of several seasons since the manga is at chapter 115.

 

[Ødegaard]

Well, it's only 3rd episode and I think it'll be of several seasons since the manga is at chapter 115.

Not saying it as a criticism, just some sort of explanation for why the characters seem boring/not likeable yet.

There is really only a few animes that properly introduces characters in a couple of episodes.