Anime/Manga - Discuss Japanese cartoons and comics here; NO CULTURE WAR DOOMPOSTING!

[Moguro Fukuzou]

So, I started watching Darker than Black because the premise sounded kinda interesting, but I'm about 5-6 eps in and just not particularly invested, which is strange for an award-winning show with a fairly high fan rating. Not that I think it's bad, but so far it hasn't done a good job of getting me interested in its power system and the red-haired girl bait-n-switch protag whose name I've legitimately forgotten isn't doing anything for me either.

Is this one of those shows that starts off meh but gets better as it goes on?

Darker than Black was one of those series I watched early on, liked it enough to buy both seasons, but the story gets really weird by the end (this applies to both seasons). It goes into trying to explain things, like the powers and what the gate is in really convoluted ways, all crammed at the end. My main enjoyment of the show came from the characters and the slick fight scenes with the sprinkle of crime mystery (and the memes ala Chinese Electric Batman, Now I've Lost it [Guitar Riff], Collarbones, etc.). Series can also get quite brutal at times, both gory and subject wise. I would recommend sticking with it, though if you're looking for proper story pay off I don't think you'll get it, a curse that plagues many bones original series and adaptions.

Though I'm also apparently considered a weirdo for enjoy the second season because many fans of the first series like to pretend it never happened. I found both seasons enjoyable but first season had the more memorable cast of characters. Both seasons also have great openings and while I do love Howling I'd say season 2 opening is my favorite.

I'm now reminded that I'll probably never be able to own the first season on blu ray because they only did it as a limited to 5000 premium release that I entirely missed and will have to cling to my dvd copy like with so many other series .

 

[Secret Asshole]

I'm honestly surprised they didn't just make it a hentai anime either but I'd chalk that up to the drastic changes in that market post-2008 where it's completely dead in America with no new official releases dubbed or subbed while the home Japanese market has probably drifted further away from the "grimdark porn with plot" of the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's.

Otherwise I'm with you on the possibility of Japanese studios deciding to deliberately give the finger to the West. The bullshit controversy over a bland PG-13 "meh" comedy like Uzaki-chan (especially in light of shit like Cuties or the She-Ra reboot) coupled with the Patreon ban and the Amazon fuckery is probably making the suits in Japan decide to actually fight back now that the Western market for anime and manga is increasingly getting bigger (and is poised to eclipse the heights of the early 2000's Anime Boom) while Western media icons like Marvel have become played out and everyone else is cratering.

It's pretty transparent that the whole "Weeb Shaming" trend in the United States is astroturfed by companies like Disney, Sony, and Warner at this point. When it started in the late 2000's/early 2010's, it was a more genuine backlash similar to the hating on otaku in Japan where it's dunking on dumb spergs for acting like dumb spergs.

But it's obvious the Woke Left's vendetta against anything tangentially related to anime and the Twitter sperging over pedos, Nazis, and fedora-clad "le evil neckbeard misogynist" strawmen is ridiculous even for SJW standards and it's clearly being given a wider platform by American media companies like Disney to keep out competition and make sure the soylent consoomer bugmen with the actual neckbeards and the dangerhair punk sows keep steady to the lifestyle brand franchises and the rest of the audience doesn't spend their money on the competition elsewhere.

I've actually thought on this for a bit and I think we're right that this is a pusback against the West. Just think about this for a moment. This manga, 'Redo of Healer', makes Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero look like Kiki's Delivery Service. Remember the amount of shit both anime series got? Goblin Slayer for short scenes of sexual violence and shield hero for a false rape accusation. Well this series is filled to the brim with rape, sexual violence, sexual torture, raping virgins, blood and gore, killing women....literally everything possible to make Western SJWs have heart attacks and go apeshit. So despite these controversies, in which a Western entertainment company would back down, Japan fucking pushes the volume to 11.

Not only that, but there's more evidence Japan is pushing back against Western Twitter warriors and companies. For example, 'Shield Hero' was extremely controversial and highly criticized. Season 1 ends, and immediately gets greenlit for not only Season 2, but Season 3. This is so rare, I've NEVER heard of this happening before. Especially to something controversial. Again, Western companies would back down, but Japan? Nope. Fuck you, didn't like this? Here's two more seasons faggot.

Plus not only that, you have several anime companies banding together to put thousands of anime series on YouTube for free, basically hitting Western streaming services right in the fucking balls.

So I definitely think there is some sort of major pushback going on in Japan. They have to sense Western companies shitting on them for profits, and just keep putting out things the West wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole while Western entertainment has been creatively stagnant for almost a decade now. Comics are in a position to completely die out. Manga is stomping face. Anime companies are putting shit up for free. Japanese companies are turning the volume up to 11, ignoring the West.

I think the absolute state of them going after Uzaki-chan (which is immensely popular in Japan) is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, since it is so incredibly inoffensive.

That's why I'm having trouble seeing anime get Westernized. Especially after the manga artist for Tenchi went up and wanted them protected from shit like this and China, who Western entertainment companies cannot deepthroat fast enough.

 

[CheezzyMach]

I've actually thought on this for a bit and I think we're right that this is a pusback against the West. Just think about this for a moment. This manga, 'Redo of Healer', makes Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero look like Kiki's Delivery Service. Remember the amount of shit both anime series got? Goblin Slayer for short scenes of sexual violence and shield hero for a false rape accusation. Well this series is filled to the brim with rape, sexual violence, sexual torture, raping virgins, blood and gore, killing women....literally everything possible to make Western SJWs have heart attacks and go apeshit. So despite these controversies, in which a Western entertainment company would back down, Japan fucking pushes the volume to 11.

Not only that, but there's more evidence Japan is pushing back against Western Twitter warriors and companies. For example, 'Shield Hero' was extremely controversial and highly criticized. Season 1 ends, and immediately gets greenlit for not only Season 2, but Season 3. This is so rare, I've NEVER heard of this happening before. Especially to something controversial. Again, Western companies would back down, but Japan? Nope. Fuck you, didn't like this? Here's two more seasons faggot.

Plus not only that, you have several anime companies banding together to put thousands of anime series on YouTube for free, basically hitting Western streaming services right in the fucking balls.

So I definitely think there is some sort of major pushback going on in Japan. They have to sense Western companies shitting on them for profits, and just keep putting out things the West wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole while Western entertainment has been creatively stagnant for almost a decade now. Comics are in a position to completely die out. Manga is stomping face. Anime companies are putting shit up for free. Japanese companies are turning the volume up to 11, ignoring the West.

I think the absolute state of them going after Uzaki-chan (which is immensely popular in Japan) is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, since it is so incredibly inoffensive.

That's why I'm having trouble seeing anime get Westernized. Especially after the manga artist for Tenchi went up and wanted them protected from shit like this and China, who Western entertainment companies cannot deepthroat fast enough.

Do you ever see Western entertainment shaking off and bouncing back from wokeness or do you think we're about to see a repeat of what happened to the American automotive industry in the 1980s?

I mean we know this shit is unpopular here which is why Japan is gaining more and more of a foothold in the American market.

 

[Ruin]

I've actually thought on this for a bit and I think we're right that this is a pusback against the West. Just think about this for a moment. This manga, 'Redo of Healer', makes Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero look like Kiki's Delivery Service. Remember the amount of shit both anime series got? Goblin Slayer for short scenes of sexual violence and shield hero for a false rape accusation. Well this series is filled to the brim with rape, sexual violence, sexual torture, raping virgins, blood and gore, killing women....literally everything possible to make Western SJWs have heart attacks and go apeshit. So despite these controversies, in which a Western entertainment company would back down, Japan fucking pushes the volume to 11.

Not only that, but there's more evidence Japan is pushing back against Western Twitter warriors and companies. For example, 'Shield Hero' was extremely controversial and highly criticized. Season 1 ends, and immediately gets greenlit for not only Season 2, but Season 3. This is so rare, I've NEVER heard of this happening before. Especially to something controversial. Again, Western companies would back down, but Japan? Nope. Fuck you, didn't like this? Here's two more seasons faggot.

Plus not only that, you have several anime companies banding together to put thousands of anime series on YouTube for free, basically hitting Western streaming services right in the fucking balls.

So I definitely think there is some sort of major pushback going on in Japan. They have to sense Western companies shitting on them for profits, and just keep putting out things the West wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole while Western entertainment has been creatively stagnant for almost a decade now. Comics are in a position to completely die out. Manga is stomping face. Anime companies are putting shit up for free. Japanese companies are turning the volume up to 11, ignoring the West.

I think the absolute state of them going after Uzaki-chan (which is immensely popular in Japan) is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, since it is so incredibly inoffensive.

That's why I'm having trouble seeing anime get Westernized. Especially after the manga artist for Tenchi went up and wanted them protected from shit like this and China, who Western entertainment companies cannot deepthroat fast enough.

If that's the case they should adopt this next. I think it's probably the most extreme manga content wise I've ever seen.

https://mangakakalot.com/read-qj0ot158504957720

 

[Tor Lugosi]

The first season of Darker Than Black is terrific... well, up until the finale, anyway. For the most part, 80% of season one is a series of vignettes, similar in style to Garden of Sinners. The overarching plot that served as the connective tissue between those short stories also wasn't bad... until the end when it seems like they panicked and went "oh shit, we still have so much to wrap up!" and proceeded to rush through a trillion plot points in the season one finale.

I didn't like season two at all. Everything I liked about season one was mostly gone and replaced with a lot of shit, going from a really interesting and unique series to fairly generic and forgettable.

 

[Steamboat_Bill]

Plus not only that, you have several anime companies banding together to put thousands of anime series on YouTube for free, basically hitting Western streaming services right in the fucking balls.

The things that are on that streaming service are all old kids' series that no American streaming service is ever going to buy, and you can't access any of them outside of Japan for the moment... but yes, Crunchyroll is quaking in their boots.

(Also remember Japan is not actually a monolithic representation of the anime companies in Japan, who would have probably quit doing business with the Western streaming services years ago if they didn't like how they conducted business.)

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I don't know how much it's factual but there's a meme image about Abigail Shapiro having just about the same height and bust as Uzaki-chan. Pretty funny if true.

 

[Secret Asshole]

If that's the case they should adopt this next. I think it's probably the most extreme manga content wise I've ever seen.

https://mangakakalot.com/read-qj0ot158504957720

Looks like I got some new reading material.

 

[Atatata]

I've actually thought on this for a bit and I think we're right that this is a pusback against the West. Just think about this for a moment. This manga, 'Redo of Healer', makes Goblin Slayer and Shield Hero look like Kiki's Delivery Service. Remember the amount of shit both anime series got? Goblin Slayer for short scenes of sexual violence and shield hero for a false rape accusation. Well this series is filled to the brim with rape, sexual violence, sexual torture, raping virgins, blood and gore, killing women....literally everything possible to make Western SJWs have heart attacks and go apeshit. So despite these controversies, in which a Western entertainment company would back down, Japan fucking pushes the volume to 11.

Not only that, but there's more evidence Japan is pushing back against Western Twitter warriors and companies. For example, 'Shield Hero' was extremely controversial and highly criticized. Season 1 ends, and immediately gets greenlit for not only Season 2, but Season 3. This is so rare, I've NEVER heard of this happening before. Especially to something controversial. Again, Western companies would back down, but Japan? Nope. Fuck you, didn't like this? Here's two more seasons faggot.

Plus not only that, you have several anime companies banding together to put thousands of anime series on YouTube for free, basically hitting Western streaming services right in the fucking balls.

So I definitely think there is some sort of major pushback going on in Japan. They have to sense Western companies shitting on them for profits, and just keep putting out things the West wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole while Western entertainment has been creatively stagnant for almost a decade now. Comics are in a position to completely die out. Manga is stomping face. Anime companies are putting shit up for free. Japanese companies are turning the volume up to 11, ignoring the West.

I think the absolute state of them going after Uzaki-chan (which is immensely popular in Japan) is going to be the straw that breaks the camel's back, since it is so incredibly inoffensive.

That's why I'm having trouble seeing anime get Westernized. Especially after the manga artist for Tenchi went up and wanted them protected from shit like this and China, who Western entertainment companies cannot deepthroat fast enough.

Honestly, ngl, I feel like this is more of a pushback against South Korea more so than the west. South Korean webtoons have been pushing along steadily for a while now, and they have the advantage of hitting digital harder. However, they're much more conservative when it comes to porn and violence (one of the reasons, iirc, that the artist of Dr. Stone, Boichi, moved to Japan). So I wouldn't be surprised to learn that by making edgier content, they're hoping to keep their control over the rest.

More of a dab on the west as an extra, imo.

 

[Syaoran Li]

The things that are on that streaming service are all old kids' series that no American streaming service is ever going to buy, and you can't access any of them outside of Japan for the moment... but yes, Crunchyroll is quaking in their boots.

(Also remember Japan is not actually a monolithic representation of the anime companies in Japan, who would have probably quit doing business with the Western streaming services years ago if they didn't like how they conducted business.)

Agreed, up to a point. I think Japanese anime companies didn't even consider the issue of the Western streaming services because the market was a lower priority and at least some of them were probably coasting on contracts from before "Current Year"

The "War on Anime" SJW autism was always there but didn't really start to ramp up until 2019 or so. The Weeb Wars began that year but more importantly the MCU finally hit its peak while the woke reboots from the different studios began to bomb even harder. COVID-19 has also added a lot more fuel to the trash fire and a lot of companies are panicking. I'd say Disney is the one that is most adamant against anime and manga getting a larger foothold in America since Marvel is their bread and butter and it's the only one of Iger's grand conquests that actually paid off in the long run. The MCU is primed for a downfall and the capeshit fad will die out with it, and Disney will no longer be the invincible titan it was in the 2010's.

At least Warner has Toonami and Crunchyroll while Sony has Funimation and Aniplex, Disney has nothing like that because they've never needed it all that much.

The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker did avoid becoming box office bombs but they both really underperformed and basically killed one of the biggest media franchises in history. The Fox buyout was massive and they've not fully digested all the debt from it.

Unless Disney decides to change course on anime and makes deals like their old Studio Ghibli distribution deal and tries to focus more on Kingdom Hearts as a franchise, they're the ones who are most likely to get hit the hardest if we get a second Anime Boom.

As for the studios in Japan, they're seeing a lot of new potential in these markets and will gladly follow the money. The only foreign censors I could see them bending the knee for would be China

 

[GhostButt]

In Ancient Rome public toilets were literally public, unisex with row of shitters that were not separated in any way. I don't know why or how people started to sexualize shitting. Also, same sex shitters in Eastern Europe have no dividers, it's literally like a row of shitters (hole in the floor) with no privacy, probably similar to China. Privacy on a shitter is def a Western/1st world thing.

God damn you, you just made time travel harder because I just realized that if a bit of modern gut micro biome got out in the past it would tear through the population, and I mean quite literally TEAR

 

[Steamboat_Bill]

Agreed, up to a point. I think Japanese anime companies didn't even consider the issue of the Western streaming services because the market was a lower priority and at least some of them were probably coasting on contracts from before "Current Year"

The "War on Anime" SJW autism was always there but didn't really start to ramp up until 2019 or so. The Weeb Wars began that year but more importantly the MCU finally hit its peak while the woke reboots from the different studios began to bomb even harder. COVID-19 has also added a lot more fuel to the trash fire and a lot of companies are panicking. I'd say Disney is the one that is most adamant against anime and manga getting a larger foothold in America since Marvel is their bread and butter and it's the only one of Iger's grand conquests that actually paid off in the long run. The MCU is primed for a downfall and the capeshit fad will die out with it, and Disney will no longer be the invincible titan it was in the 2010's.

At least Warner has Toonami and Crunchyroll while Sony has Funimation and Aniplex, Disney has nothing like that because they've never needed it all that much.

The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker did avoid becoming box office bombs but they both really underperformed and basically killed one of the biggest media franchises in history. The Fox buyout was massive and they've not fully digested all the debt from it.

Unless Disney decides to change course on anime and makes deals like their old Studio Ghibli distribution deal and tries to focus more on Kingdom Hearts as a franchise, they're the ones who are most likely to get hit the hardest if we get a second Anime Boom.

As for the studios in Japan, they're seeing a lot of new potential in these markets and will gladly follow the money. The only foreign censors I could see them bending the knee for would be China

What exactly does all of this have to do with anime? Disney doesn't even distribute the Ghibli films anymore, that's GKids.

 

[CheezzyMach]

What exactly does all of this have to do with anime? Disney doesn't even distribute the Ghibli films anymore, that's GKids.

Dude has this conspiracy theory Disney is trying to throttle weebshit because it's a threat to Marvel * hard disagree there personally *.

 

[Moguro Fukuzou]

I don't have much interest in that healer series getting an anime adaption, don't expect it to be much above the level of schlock that has a heavily censored broadcast release so people buy the Blu-rays. I'm very picky about my edge for the sake of edge series and I ended up getting bored and dropping this one. Just seems like another show that people claim is better than it actually is just because it'll offend people they don't like. I don't expect it to be a very memorable series, probably be better than Arifureta god awful adaption, but it'll just end up chucked into the obligatory mediocre seasonal isekai adaption. If it manages to escape either fate I'll be surprised, might at least been fun checking out the /a/ threads on it though it might be one of the seasonal shows that shitposters decide to infest.

There are a bunch of other isekai/non-isekai manga/LN I'd rather see adapted or given a second season but they rarely get picked.

 

[Atatata]

I don't have much interest in that healer series getting an anime adaption, don't expect it to be much above the level of schlock that has a heavily censored broadcast release so people buy the Blu-rays. I'm very picky about my edge for the sake of edge series and I ended up getting bored and dropping this one. Just seems like another show that people claim is better than it actually is just because it'll offend people they don't like. I don't expect it to be a very memorable series, probably be better than Arifureta god awful adaption, but it'll just end up chucked into the obligatory mediocre seasonal isekai adaption. If it manages to escape either fate I'll be surprised, might at least been fun checking out the /a/ threads on it though it might be one of the seasonal shows that shitposters decide to infest.

There are a bunch of other isekai/non-isekai manga/LN I'd rather see adapted or given a second season but they rarely get picked.

I've read a bit of the manga, and its 100% shock schlock. The art for the anime adaption looks surprisingly high quality though.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Its a porn game, isn't it? And from what I've heard, a fairly graphic one at that. It makes sense that it would get that sort of merchandise.

You can take his jockstrap off as well as the leather attachments if you want and there's an errect penis you can put ob him.
Apparently there was (swear to god) supposed to be cum droplets and stains all over him. But it was scrapped.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

I don't know how much it's factual but there's a meme image about Abigail Shapiro having just about the same height and bust as Uzaki-chan. Pretty funny if true.

Probably half-true, she does have the tiddies for it. Not sure about her height.

 

[Syaoran Li]

What exactly does all of this have to do with anime? Disney doesn't even distribute the Ghibli films anymore, that's GKids.

I know Disney no longer distributes Ghibli, what I'm saying is that if Disney is smart, they'll try to get a similar deal with a different anime studio in the event of another anime boom. If you read the post more closely, I pointed that out.

Disney is likely the one most likely to be backing the "weeb shaming/War on Anime" push seen on the Woke Left, but they're not alone. Even if they're not actively behind it, they'll gladly help give a wider platform for the Woke Twitter assholes shrieking about invisible Nazi pedophiles hiding under every copy of a Naruto manga or a My Hero Academia DVD.

Even during the height of the 2000's anime boom, manga never outsold Marvel and DC comics and now it is. Yes, Marvel and DC comics are an afterthought and at best serve as promos for the movies made by Disney and Warner but the success of the capeshit fad and the booming pre-corona economy meant that those sales were unimportant.

But now anime and manga is slowly starting to get popular among the new generation here in the United States, and this isn't just cope or speculation either so hold off on the rainbows. I do know the situation is different in the United Kingdom

I've seen it pop up a lot online and in real life too. The capeshit bubble is primed to burst since the MCU is now in an aimless limbo since Endgame turned out to not be the "grand finale" and they can't use the X-Men characters just yet. Everyone's getting burned out and I think part of why the MCU was still a smash success despite the oversaturation of cape movies in the late 2010's was because it was all building towards something and we already reached that with Infinity War and Endgame.

Joker was a hit because it was essentially the anti-capeshit movie despite being ostensibly based on DC Comics.

@CheezzyMach I get that you're a big fan of Marvel, and even I admit that I'm a fan of several of the pre-MCU fare like the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons from the 90's and I've begun getting into The Punisher and Tomb of Dracula, but Disney is a notoriously corrupt mega-corporation even for the media industry. The Iger years have made all of Disney's worst traits exponentially more prominent.

If they view anime as a threat to their profits, they'll gladly be in favor of any attempt to keep it out of the wider market. I'd say prior to 2019, they kind of viewed it as a low-priority issue at the absolute most, but now things have changed.

And it's not just Disney either. Warner and Sony are probably in on these efforts as well, even if they've got slightly different motives since Warner and Sony have a virtual monopoly on official anime releases in the United States.

Personally, I'm hoping for the MCU to finally die off since that's actually more likely to help the superhero genre in the long run.

Plus, there will always be movies and shows for the evergreen supers like Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, and the more iconic members of the X-Men like Storm and Wolverine

 

[Atatata]

You can take his jockstrap off as well as the leather attachments if you want and there's an errect penis you can put ob him.
Apparently there was (swear to god) supposed to be cum droplets and stains all over him. But it was scrapped.

I have no idea how they got away with that, though I'll admit I don't know much about the nipponese porn merchandise game to begin with.

 

[Steamboat_Bill]

I know Disney no longer distributes Ghibli, what I'm saying is that if Disney is smart, they'll try to get a similar deal with a different anime studio in the event of another anime boom. If you read the post more closely, I pointed that out.

Disney is likely the one most likely to be backing the "weeb shaming/War on Anime" push seen on the Woke Left, but they're not alone. Even if they're not actively behind it, they'll gladly help give a wider platform for the Woke Twitter assholes shrieking about invisible Nazi pedophiles hiding under every copy of a Naruto manga or a My Hero Academia DVD.

Even during the height of the 2000's anime boom, manga never outsold Marvel and DC comics and now it is. Yes, Marvel and DC comics are an afterthought and at best serve as promos for the movies made by Disney and Warner but the success of the capeshit fad and the booming pre-corona economy meant that those sales were unimportant.

But now anime and manga is slowly starting to get popular among the new generation here in the United States, and this isn't just cope or speculation either so hold off on the rainbows. I do know the situation is different in the United Kingdom

I've seen it pop up a lot online and in real life too. The capeshit bubble is primed to burst since the MCU is now in an aimless limbo since Endgame turned out to not be the "grand finale" and they can't use the X-Men characters just yet. Everyone's getting burned out and I think part of why the MCU was still a smash success despite the oversaturation of cape movies in the late 2010's was because it was all building towards something and we already reached that with Infinity War and Endgame.

Joker was a hit because it was essentially the anti-capeshit movie despite being ostensibly based on DC Comics.

@CheezzyMach I get that you're a big fan of Marvel, and even I admit that I'm a fan of several of the pre-MCU fare like the X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons from the 90's and I've begun getting into The Punisher and Tomb of Dracula, but Disney is a notoriously corrupt mega-corporation even for the media industry. The Iger years have made all of Disney's worst traits exponentially more prominent.

If they view anime as a threat to their profits, they'll gladly be in favor of any attempt to keep it out of the wider market. I'd say prior to 2019, they kind of viewed it as a low-priority issue at the absolute most, but now things have changed.

And it's not just Disney either. Warner and Sony are probably in on these efforts as well, even if they've got slightly different motives since Warner and Sony have a virtual monopoly on official anime releases in the United States.

Personally, I'm hoping for the MCU to finally die off since that's actually more likely to help the superhero genre in the long run.

Plus, there will always be movies and shows for the evergreen supers like Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, and the more iconic members of the X-Men like Storm and Wolverine

But you assume that they want to get in on the market. They don't.