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[NRDL]

Several episodes in to Demon Slayer, I'm really liking it so far. Zenitsu's getting on my nerves, but I KNOW that I can like him, it's just the episodes give his coward and crybaby moments way too much screen time. If they were to balance and pace it better, throw in more quiet introspection and resolve moments, he'd be a lot more functionally sympathetic.

"I'm a coward and I know it, but I really want to be better" can only really go so far if it's EXECUTED well. Dude is doing too much screaming and running away relative to scenes of him genuinely trying to improve and change.

Since he's not that funny, he's almost at Jar Jar Binks levels of annoying. Hoping character development comes quickly.

[Reelya]

I'm watching Mahou Shoujo Ore now. It's pretty weird. Think Sailor Moon but when Usagi transforms she turns into a JoJo character in a girly dress.

[Tack]

Zenitsu's getting on my nerves, but I KNOW that I can like him, it's just the episodes give his coward and crybaby moments way too much screen time.

I agree fully. I don’t like him.

[SquatchHammer]

Wow it's been a while, I had watched a few series since the last time I commented here.

First off, I really wish that I could have found The World God Only Knows OVA in subbed. I don't mind dubbed personally but it just felt way over done or just dead pan in the first half of the first episode so I had to stop. I think the blu-ray has it in sub but I dont know for sure.

I did watch the Goddesses series and I really enjoyed it. I still wished I could see the series in between series 2 and the goddesses but I could not find where to watch everything. I wish there was plans for doing another season afterwards because of the ending but if I researched it correctly the company went belly up and there's no current plans on continuing the anime as a whole. I would like to get the manga at that point but since it's out of print, I dont think I would pay 50~100$ usd per volume and hope the volume is in decent condition at this point.

[SquatchHammer]

I just watched Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl and holy fucking shit I didn't expect it to be that hard and heavy. I wished that I had watched it in the theaters but damn I just had to pause the movie a couple of times because it was so unbelievably sad. I still recommend it but definitely need to have something to cry into because of how hard it my feelings.

[Dunamisdeos]

The only thing in an anime that ever actually hit me like that was, of all things, that cheeseball superdark Castlevania anime.

I had just had my first kid and I lost it when...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

At the end where he breaks down in his son's baby room and they kill him. Holy shit that was like new dad feels dialed to 200%.

[Reelya]

The most commonly cited moment for feels in anime is the end of Clannad: After Story. Pretty strong stuff but you need to watch the full 48+ I think eps to get to that point, and of course skipping the rest would just ruin the effect.

Something similar: It's said Aria the Origination (the final season of Aria) is the best one, so some people actually don't bother with the rest and just watch "Aria the Origination" and expect themselves to get something out of it. However, the point is, it's so good because it's the endpoint of all the characters journeys. You have to have been there from the start for anything to make sense or affect you. The core concept is about the cycle of life through apprenticeship, journeyman and master, and about going with the flow of life. Skipping to the end is just dumb. Just don't bother starting Origination if you're not interested to see the whole thing, it's the exact opposite of what the entire show is about: the show makes a big point of how much people are missing when they're in a hurry to get somewhere, so it's highly ironic that a bunch of people want to watch it because they've read the rave reviews, but they're looking for some magic fast-forward button to get through all the "slow bits". Hint: it's all slow bits, that's what the reviews are about.

[Jopax]

Does anything more need to be said?

[heydude6]

The most commonly cited moment for feels in anime is the end of Clannad: After Story. Pretty strong stuff but you need to watch the full 48+ I think eps to get to that point, and of course skipping the rest would just ruin the effect.

What’s your opinion on Clannad Reelya? I decided to watch Kanon first since I heard it was a less emotionally intense precursor to Clannad made by the same studio, but I was completely underwhelmed. The show had its charms, but a lot of its emotional moments fell flat for me (among other problems).

Spoiler: Actual spoilers for a show I don’t consider worth watching. This is also a rant (click to show/hide)

I didn’t really care much for Makoto’s death. I hate tsunderes in general so I was never that invested in her character. I definitely did feel sad when her “condition” was revealed and I saw her deteriorate, but by the time the next episode rolled around and she died, I didn’t feel anything anymore. A lot of people say this scene made them cry and I just don’t get that.

It didn’t get better when the show then decided to give three more people terminal illnesses. I know some of them end up surviving, but it’s still lazy writing. And don’t even get me started on the car crash

*rant over*

Sorry about that. Especially if you never even watched that show. I just wanted to know if Clannad was different enough from Kanon to actually be good. I was actually looking forward to watching it until I learned that the people who were championing Clannad were also championing Kanon.

[Reelya]

The point with all these series is that they're visual novel adaptations. The arcs in Key series were all originally actual endings to their own stories. Then, they get adapted to a single anime, so they get strung out one after the other. The stories were just never intended to be sequential stories. This is the most common problem with visual novel adaptations: they're not linear, but anime is. It's as if someone told you to adapt a Choose Your Own Adventure story to TV, but the design brief is that you have to include all the endings and major plot-points from every route through the book.

It's not "lazy writing", it's trying to work out how to smoosh multiple separate storylines which were never intended to occur in the same timeline into a single continuity - you inevitably have to summarize each characters arc, then "reboot" back to the splitting point, then rinse and repeat. For both Kanon and Clannad, there's a starting arc setting everything up then they go through each main heroine's route sequentially, so you have to really treat it as a collection of separate arcs, because that's exactly what it is. So whether or not you enjoy the final product is another matter, but the writers for these things aren't lazy. Lazy writing is when you can write whatever you want, rather than being heavily constrained in what you can write, and having to shoe-horn a ton of incompatible material in.

BTW: if you want the lazy version of visual novel adaptations, it's series which have each arc overtly happen and then just more or less say "ok, just pretend the last 3-4 episodes never happened, and this is what would have happened otherwise". This can work well in some cases if done well, and may even be the only way some visual novels can be adapted, if the different arcs are just too contradictory to go into one narrative (Amagami SS), but it's outright just way more lazy as a way to adapt a visual novel, because you just plain don't need to make any effort at all to gloss over the inconsistencies between the arcs.

[Niveras]

Big oof.

I finished the second season of OreGairu (My youth romantic comedy is wrong as I expected/My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) and I find I'm obsessing over it. Read through several analyses of it from reddit. The fact that it is unconcluded is surely a part of it, even if I can console myself that the third season and conclusion is coming (though I'd surely wait until the complete season was available, so likely won't get around to it for a full twelve months). And if were really desperate I could read translations of now-released volumes that haven't been adapted yet. Can't imagine watching this back in 2016 and going three and a half years wondering if they'd ever finish it.

It hit me harder than Your Lie In April, which did have a conclusive ending, and even... stuff I don't want to say (and don't care to spoiler-tag since the forum can't do inline spoilers).

I don't much care to analyze the whys and whatfors, that would only really deepen the obsession. Instead, I need something else to watch over the next few weeks to get my mind off it. I've finished ReLife, which was far more light-hearted, while still being meaningful and not saccharine. I liked that ReLife seemed to completely eschew any kind of fanservice (OreGairu mostly avoided it in the main adaptation, though the merchandise is heavily fanservice, and some stills are clearly intended for male gaze).

Examples of others I enjoyed: ERASED was good. Kaguya-Sama: Love is War was a good comedy, though I preferred the more dramatic turn of the final third of the season. FMA:B was decent but some of action scenes and dialogue (especially dialogue in the action scenes) are nonsensical. I've tried an episode or two of K-ON but I think it might be a little too "cute girls doing cute things" (if I could be permitted to use such a term), even if it does get more meaningful later on. Violet Evergarden was lovely when it concentrated on Violet learning how to be human, but the military/rebel (anti-peace) arc felt poorly written and made little sense. Goblin Slayer is a nice change, although watching it a second time I feel the dialogue might be poorly paced (but this could be a translation/dub/actor problem). Conversely: Overlord is edgy powerfantasy, My Hero Academia suffers from DBZ syndrome, and Konosuba is just... _^trash

Suggestions? It doesn't necessarily have to be slice of life/romcom.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I acknowledge the fanservice present in Love is War, and also that while I preferred the dramatic arc, the early comedy is a necessary foil prior to the drama, as you learn the characters.

Overlord: I completely hate the origin/concept of the Nazarick guardians (terrible sues written by edgy teenages all trying their damndest to be cool... given life) and the constant asspulling of powers.
MHA ("DBZ syndrome"): constantly escalating threats solved by much gritting of teeth, charging of Real Ultimate Power +1, and loud shouting of powers and attacks. Also, 90% of the character designs are childish. A manratbearcatdogpigthing leads the academy? Why?

I have to admit, if I could approach these on their own, I might find them okay. The problem is I expected Overlord to be more "mature" - I wanted Dungeon Keeper Ami, instead it was... that. MHA - having done no research before I tried it - I expected to be a more serious/realistic approach to a world where everyone has some kind of superpower. Sort of like Worm, even though I'd never started Worm before trying MHA. Instead, MHA is exactly as cheesy as anything from Marvel or DC in the last 50 years. (It occurs to me, is MHA intended for children?)

Konosuba: probably not trash if I could enjoy it as a simple comedy, but Aqua and Darkness are just too irritating to deal with. That with the obnoxious fanservice and I'm this close to calling it everything wrong with anime. Even if it is supposed to lampshade/deconstruct isekai it's just... too much. (I don't know if it is even supposed to do that, or if maybe that's from something else that I don't remember and am applying to Konosuba incorrectly.)

[Frumple]

Hero Academia is indeed intended for not-particularly-old people. Teen-ish, more or less. It's not much in Worm's direction, more plain ol' superhero stuff. There's some edge to it, but not "major character flayed alive and strung about a room still living" edge.

... there's minor spoiler there, I guess, but if you haven't started worm yet you'll probably forget by the time you get there lol

Konasuba is indeed kinda' trash. I've read plenty worse isekai schlock but it's still very much isekai schlock, just schlock in different ways than normal. Dunno if it's supposed to be a deconstruction, reads more like standard less serious slice of life guff.

[Reelya]

I'd suggest Daily lives of Highschool Boys, Kimi to Boku, and Tanaka is Always Listless as some slice of life shows that aren't about the obligatory 4-5 cute girls doing cute things. Also Saiki Kuso Psi Nan, because it's pretty good too.

But there are much better series than K-On in that same vein however. Azumanga Daioh, Hidamari Sketch, Nichijou are some suggestions.

Obligatory NWA meets Hidamari Sketch (NSFW audio):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlYp5w4iFQ0

[Karnewarrior]

Konosuba is one of those "lol I'm a parody but also not really" type of shows where they look at and recognize how totally stupid things are and then do them anyway, laughing all the way. There's a certain kind of charm to it, but I definitely don't feel like it justifies the love I sometimes see of it. It amazes me that anyone's attracted to Aqua - seeing someone act like she's at all a decent waifu is basically my red flag that that person is someone who values body over everything else... Combined.

As far as suggestions, I have this prepared and on hand for anytime someone asks me for suggestions:
YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA YUKI YUNA

One might surmise that it's my favorite anime or something. 

Outside of that, for other unusual reccomendations:

• A-channel was pretty good SoL stuff. Nothing super unique, to be honest, but the humor is solid and the girls are cute. The cast is pretty well-balanced and play well with each other - it's a good palette cleanser between more serious and gritty anime.
• Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a classic, and about as close as I can get to Monogatari's epilepsy animation without getting a headache - offset by the cool 50's posterboard asthetic. That has some weird darkness in it, but is still really funny, and if you really want a mindfuck you can finish it off by reading the manga from halfway after the anime's over.
• If you're looking for a movie, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is pretty good. It doesn't take a lot of the usual routes you expect with anime nowadays, and the animation is quite beautiful.
• Made in Abyss is not for public watching because of the loli nipples and gore, but goddamn is it a gripping story. You can't help but root for Riko's success even as you wince in anticipated horror as she descends deeper into the nightmarish abyss. Absolutely fucked up anime, but also 9/10 quality or better in nearly every respect.
• Nichijou is fucking hilarious and, to this day, the funniest anime I have ever watched. Yuuko watching her principal take off his jacket to reveal his bulletproof vest before suplexing a deer in the school courtyard will never not be the peak of absurdist humor. And Hakase is maximum cute.
• Searching for it on Youtube also led me to Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, which, while not quite as funny, is also hilarious and a refreshing break from cute girls doing everything, having only one real female character. It's an endless font of memes, best friends being best friends at each other (and not shounen "I'LL DIE FOR YOU" friends, more like "Yo, put this crab in your pants it'll be funny" friends), and other SoL shenanigans with the twist that instead of cute girls it's a bunch of high school dudes doing it, which makes a surprising amount of the comedy like 3 times better.
• Kanata no Kyoukai is also pretty good, and has one of the more realistic male friendships I've seen (I talk and joke about fetishes with my bros all the time). The main girl is both cute and shockingly badass, and there's this awesome sense of mysticism pervading most of it. The fight scenes are beautiful and the relationships are poignant... And the ghosts are weird. Really, really weird in some cases. Looking at you Mr. "I spooge stink juice all over everyone if I don't like the idol presentation given to me".
• Denpa Onna to Seishun no Otoko is really good and super atmospheric - make sure to watch episode 13 for one HELL of a twist too. Despite not doing anything super new with the medium it feels oddly unique and satisfying, possibly because it actually has a plot in between the SoL stuff. My only regret watching this anime was that I can't get more of Ryuuko's smile - absolute 11/10 best girl forever she is my fucking waifu material, that one.
• Rokka no Yuusha is hard to explain without spoiling, but let's just say it's a lot cooler than it first appears. And it doesn't seem exactly bad at first, what with the main character being something of a toned-down Captain Jack Sparrow mixed with a happier Batman. There's a vomit loli, a bunny girl, a catboy, and while it might seem like a brainless adventure story at first, it very, very much is not. Let's just say that if you gather seven heroes and have eight of them, interesting things are about to happen.

[Reelya]

Ah there were some good suggestions in there, some of which I considered too.

Some other good stuff:

Spice And Wolf: Medieval Fantasy, slice of life, romcom with shady dealing and economics.

Aria: best sci-fi slice of life series. Very artistic / atmospheric. Need to be in chill mood, or, this anime will create a chill mood.

Haibane Renmei: Slice of life about the afterlife or purgatory or somesuch.

Sora no Woto: a lot like a mix between Aria and Haibane Renmei. It's set in post-apocalyptic times, but so far past the apocalypse that most everyone is pretty chill and just getting along with their lives.

Yowamushi Pedal: one of the most addicting sports animes. It's about cycling / road racing.

Hajime no Ippo: another addicting sports series, it's about boxing