I am unfortunately employed now, so my free time has been devoured by the job, commute and preparation. However, I have still managed to keep up with a few shows and manga - at a slow pace. So how about you?
For me:
Manga:
Oresama Teacher (2007-2020, 176 Chapters) - The only manga I’m reading at the moment is a work by Tsubaki Izumi of Gekkan-Shoujo Nozaki-kun. It is a story of a former delinquent Mafuyu Kurosaki becoming a transfer student and trying to turn her life around. Like a wild mixture of Angel Densetsu and Nozaki-kun, it is indeed a hilarious manga with surprisingly in-depth characters, but instead of the 4-koma format of the latter, it has shoujo manga length chapters. *(so far) A+
Anime:
Dragon Ball (1986-1989, 153 Episodes) - Dragon Ball is a VERY competent Shounen, and one that steadily gets better and drops the immaturity and much of the horniness of the early part of the show. However, around the 100th episode things start changing. The show becomes… interesting. Definitely recommend sticking around to see the show grow. A
Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, Season 1 (2007, 12 Episodes) - This show apparently was a darling of weebs a decade ago, and it is not hard to see why. Edgyness, egregious fanservice, a cynical attitude towards society so typical of the 90s and apparently the 2000s too. The show provides critique that can sometimes hit at the core of the problem (including anticapitalist critique), and at the same time mock people who seek to do something about it. It’s hit and miss, but undeniably interesting. The unique artstyle, the music, the Maeda cameos are bonuses. A
Lupin III: Part II (1977-1981, 155 Episodes) - Hit and miss episode quality, but always entertaining. Sometimes really weird (but apparently 80s Lupin/Part III is most like that), but those tend to be the most fun episodes. Definitely a fantastic show to relax after a stressful day, and there’s a lot of episodes. A-
Lost Universe (1998, 26 Episodes) - Fun characters, but the sci-fi spin-off to Slayers is nowhere near as fun as that series. It’s decent though. B-
Konosuba Season 3 (Ongoing seasonal, 11 Episodes) - It’s more of Konosuba. Juvenile and horny humor, surprisingly decent character writing in spite of the weeb-brained overall writing and a better isekai than the much of the genre it satirises? Yeah, it’s all still here. And not much more, but if you like the rest… B
Too early to tell - Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 (Very good so far. I like the atmosphere more than FMAB’s and find myself enjoying it more than when I tried to watch that) - Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (very much anti-weeb brained + unique setting and premise = good, but can’t tell more until I’ve seen the rest)
Tired of libs? Want to debunk common arguments as early as in the first chapter? Read Das Kapital by Karl Marx. Not as hard as its reputation suggests.
Ongoing:
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (46/110): Still enjoying this. Stuff is currently popping off so it’s pretty hype.
Dragon Ball Z (76/291): Been picking at Dragon Ball for the past two years or so. Getting back into it since my favorite Gundam podcast is going to be watching all the theatrical movies. Starting the Frieza arc - it’s great!
Muteki Koujin Daitarn 3 (1/40): I’m working my way through all of the stuff Tomino has a lead creative role in. Love the art and Lupin III energy of the first episode so far
Finished:
Good:
SSSS Gridman: Probably one of the first late Gainax/Trigger things I genuinely liked. Felt like a fun pallette swap of The Big O if that makes sense.
Muteki Choujin Zanbot 3: Interesting in the context that there’s a lot of stuff in here that gets better done in Gundam. If I remember right, this is the first original creation by Tomino. It’s heavily in the super robot format of shows like Voltes V, but genuinely shocking at times. Worth watching if you have terminal Tomino brain, but probably not otherwise.
Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Bravern: Really fun - watch it if you like robots (go in with as little information as possible)
Spy X Family: Code White: Fun enough for a seasonal anime movie. Wish we got it during the winter though!
Mid:
Mobile Suit Gundam NT: It was alright, I just didn’t find it too compelling or visually interesting enough.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagan: What if Getter Robo was made by the most clueless annoying anime fans?
Byston Well Monogatari: Garzey’s Wing: Not as bad as I heard it was. Middle of the road OVA interpretation of Dunbine. Might eventually rewatch for the infamously bad English dub.
Bad:
Darling in the FranXX: Bad, but not bad enough to be worth watching (see Cross Ange for that).
Haven’t touched any manga - just books and Star Wars comics
I just took psychic damage! For me TTGL is a send-up and love letter to the Super Robot genre, almost like an apology from Gainax after they broke the genre with Evangelion. A mitigating factor was it came out 15 years ago, and things have improved since. It’s not quite as impactful as it once was.
It’s just a bit too
“wow cool robot” for me to enjoy - it feels like it misses the danger of the giant death machine. It leaves me wanting to watch another Getter Robo or Mazinger show instead. Shows made by Anime Fans tend to do this, but I’m a hypocrite and like Macross a lot.
Macross props the show up on pop music, and Gurren Lagan props it up on some ubermensch/power of the individual stuff (that I think it’s snagging from Harlock?) that just doesn’t work for me lol. It’s a well animated show, and it’s totally fine to like it - I’m just not a big Trigger fan.
SSSS Gridman is great, though. Maybe I’ll be annoyed with it if I watch a lot of toku, though lol